Since We Broke Up (A Limelight Sequel)
by CallMeLy
Summary: [Part of my ZOMBIES fic timeline] A sequel to my (still ongoing) one-shot collection Limelight. After graduating high school, the zombies are finally breaking free of Seabrook. Or at least some of them are. Alonzo is one of them, Zephyr is not, and that isn't going to turn out so well. (Title from the Bowling For Soup song)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

**((This is a sequel to my one-shot collection Limelight, about my characters for the background zombies (BGZ), which is still ongoing, so make sure you've at least read the chapters involving Alonzo, Zephyr, Zach, Roz and maybe Rizzo!))**

The "future fic" begins! And unlike Tattooed Mistakes, this Zephzo angst is actually canon! (as in on my canon timeline that runs through most of my fics) I'm going to try and get chapter 1 done in just a few days or so and then it'll be weekly updates from then on

Watch the trailer for this fic (and Limelight and others) on krut09's YouTube channel, Kreatable23!

**Prologue theme songs: **High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup and Pictures by Emma Blackery

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~ We're too busy having fun for anything to destroy what I have with my boy ~

Prologue

"_Four years, you'd think for sure that's all you've got to endure..._"

Alonzo Morgan was doing what he did best – singing his heart out to his friends at a zombie mash. This time, however, was different. This would most likely be their last zombie mash. For some time, at least. And, for some time, it might even be the last time Bowling For Zoup played together.

"_All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks, so superficial, so immature! Then when you graduate, you take a look around and you say-_"

Zephyr, Zach and Roz shouted from behind him, "_Hey, wait!_"

He couldn't help but grin at how enthusiastic they sounded. Almost as enthusiastic as _he_ sounded. Graduation had come and gone. He was done with high school, and he was heading off into the world.

"_This is the same as where I just came from, I thought it was over!_"

The human world.

"_Oh, that's just great...!_" Zephyr delivered his line so perfectly that Alonzo laughed, turning to lock eyes with him as he playfully smirked back. Zeph winked at him and Al's face flushed. Almost three years later and it still gave him chills. But he didn't have time to drool over his boyfriend now – he had a song to perform.

"_The whole damn world is just as obsessed with who's the best dressed and who's having sex! Who's got the money, who gets the honeys, who's kinda cute and who's just a mess! And you still don't have the right look, and you don't have the right friends. Nothing changes but the faces, the names and the trends... high school never ends!_"

Despite the craziness going on around him, there were hundreds of thoughts going through Alonzo's head in that moment. Surprising for him, perhaps, but there really were.

Things had changed so much in the last three years – there were no uniforms anymore, though most zombies did still prefer darker, customised clothing, curfew now just prohibited them from leaving Zombie Town after dark, and their Z-bands had been continuously updated until they were pretty much the same as smartphones.

The most recent change was the long-awaited announcement that zombies would be permitted to leave Seabrook without humans needing to escort them. Under certain conditions, of course. There were specific reasons for leaving, and living outside of, Seabrook that zombies would have to apply for. If a zombie's reason wasn't permitted by the city council, they would have to stay. Luckily, leaving for education was acceptable. Encouraged, even. They would have to have their Z-band logged into a new system so that they could be tracked, to some degree, by the patrol and any warnings or other activity would be recorded and monitored.

The process of applying was long and overly complicated but Al had made sure to get a headstart. He knew exactly what he wanted and he was going to get it.

"_Check out the popular kids! You'll never guess what Jessica did! How did Mary-Kate lose all that weight? And Katie had her baby so I guess Tom's straight._ _And the only thing that matters is climbing up that social ladder. Still care about your hair and the car you drive, doesn't matter if you're sixteen or thirty-five!_"

Al had been working part-time at the music store since he was sixteen, then he'd gotten into music class at school along with Bonzo the following year and stayed there until graduating. And who would have thought Alonzo of all people would end up with a scholarship? It wasn't surprising in the slightest what Al wanted to study: music performance. He'd been playing guitar since he was about fourteen and it had become such a serious passion, he knew it was all he wanted to do.

"_Reese Witherspoon, she's the prom queen. Bill Gates, captain of the chess team. Jack Black, the clown, Brad Pitt, the quarterback. Seen it all before..._"

Zach came in with "_I want my money back!_"

The downside was that his friends, and more importantly, his boyfriend, were all staying in or near to Seabrook, so they'd still be seeing each other on a regular basis. Alonzo was going to be _hours_ away. The others loved their music, too, but it was more of a hobby for them, and they weren't about to take such a risk as leaving the region. Sure, they were _allowed_ to, but that didn't mean they _had_ to. Not when they found good enough schools for themselves close to home.

Zach, unsurprisingly, was going to a dance school in the next town. Roz had taken an interest in media and editing ever since they had started making videos for YouTube. Zephyr, being a year older than the rest of them, had taken a gap year so he could keep playing with the band and figure out exactly what he wanted to do, while Rizzo had joined Zane in studying psychology still within Seabrook; the three of them couldn't leave town yet when they had graduated high school. Zeph was still stuck, though, and he was running out of time. There was a lot that he could do; he loved music, football, dance... but none of them enough to prioritise above the rest. And Alonzo wouldn't be there with him all the time like he was now. That fact was a constant weight on his shoulders these days.

But they had the summer, and they had right now.

"_And I still don't have the right look_," Al's eyes shone as he cast his gaze over the crowd. Everyone was there, cheering for them. For him. This was what he wanted. Almost. The crowd in his head was so much bigger, "_And I still have the same three friends_," taking the mic from its stand, he slowly spun around to smile at Zach, Roz and Zephyr in turn, then faced his audience again, putting the microphone back and raising his arms in a shrug, his guitar hanging from his shoulders, "_And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then..._"

He closed his eyes, losing himself in the music. One hand gripped the mic stand, the other punched the air as all four of them sang out.

"_High school never ends!_"

He wanted this feeling to last forever.

"_High school never ends!_"

He wished it really wouldn't end.

"_High school never ends!_"

But his future was looking bright. And it was so, _so_ close...

"_And here we go again...!_"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Half an hour later, Alonzo was alone with Zephyr in the light garden. And Zephyr was kissing him like he could disappear at any moment, his lips trailing down to his jaw and neck every now and then.

"I love you, Alonzo," he mumbled, pulling away for a second or two to meet Al's eyes, "So much."

Al smiled as Zeph caressed his face and pecked his lips once more, "I love you, too."

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I know. I'll miss you, too," Alonzo sighed but his smile never faded, "We've got a few months left together, though. And we'll still see each other."

"You swear to me?"

With a teasing smirk, Alonzo slowly leaned down and brought both hands to cup Zeph's face, his thumbs grazing his cheeks, fingers grazing his neck. Zephyr had grown a little more in high school but Al was still taller than him. He paused right as his lips brushed against Zeph's, "I swear on my life. D'you think I'd let you get away that easy?" He laughed a little at the way Zeph's eyes flickered down to his mouth and back up again.

"Would you just kiss me already?"

He did, laughing again, and Zephyr couldn't help laughing, too.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And here we go~! I'm not 100% happy with some of the stuff in this but a lot of it is just context and whatever, I am happy with all the important stuff. So. It should be weekly updates from here on out

**Chapter 1 theme songs: **And You Don't Even Know It from Everybody's Talking About Jamie, My Hometown by Bowling For Soup and A Perfectly Good Heart by Taylor Swift

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~ Why would you wanna make the very first scar? ~

Chapter 1

The licensing of Z-bands for long-term departures from Seabrook was done during the zombie's last regular maintenance check before they would leave. There were two checks every year – one on, or immediately after, their birthday (within 24 hours of the time at which they were born) and another half a year later. The license would last for six months, until their next band check, when they would have to return. Short-term licenses gave them leave for up to a week, and finally, there were basic 24-hour licenses. If a zombie's license expired and they weren't back at the containment facility, and registered there, the patrol would be notified of their location.

Both Zach and Roz had gotten their licenses a couple of months ago, but Alonzo's closest maintenance check to the day he was leaving for college was only a couple of weeks earlier. He could barely contain his excitement when his Z-band was officially logged onto the system and a new icon appeared onscreen – opening the app took him to a timer counting down until his next check, along with a page where any incidents, warnings or even excessive heartbeats would be recorded, both in the band itself and in the patrol's database.

Now it felt real. Now it _was_ real. He was one of the lucky ones. He was getting out of Seabrook. If only the clock weren't ticking so slow...

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Zephyr had ended up putting off college for yet another year, deciding instead to work at the same music store Al had worked at. He'd taken the job over the summer, part-time, and now with no other ideas, it looked like this was his last resort. He was still living with his parents, as was Rizzo, but at least he could contribute to paying the bills. They were OK with Rizzo not being able to pay anything while she was attending college, which Zeph found a little unfair but he had to put up with it anyway. And she was always busy with studying or seeing friends, so it wasn't like she was home often enough to need to pay for the things she wasn't using.

All summer long, Alonzo had been going on and on about college. He was finally on the path to becoming what he would consider a _real_ musician. This was his career, his _future_, and he was beyond excited. Zephyr could see that better than anyone. After all, he was the one Al was always gushing to, more than Zach or his mom or anybody else. And it wasn't even just about the music.

"I'm getting out of here," he said one day, quietly, as they were cuddling on the couch in his living room, only vaguely paying attention to the TV. Whatever it was that was playing, it showed a human city, crowded with people, far more than there was in Seabrook, "I'll actually be out there. With humans. With _only_ humans."

Zephyr tensed at that, "It's gonna be hard, garzi'ka," he held onto him tighter, "There's gonna be people out there who'll hurt you."

"I know. But there's people here who'd hurt me, too. You can't escape that," Alonzo moved his hand to rub soothing circles on Zeph's back, "I could really make it out there."

"I know you could."

Al smiled, closing his eyes and humming softly as Zephyr kissed his forehead, "You better keep me grounded," he opened his eyes again and gave him cocky grin, "Don't let it go to my head. Remind me I have you to come home to."

_I have you to come home to._

That's what he had to think of. Al would come back to him. _Of course_ he would come back to him. Always.

"We're gonna talk every day, right?" he asked and Zephyr felt him comb his fingers through his hair.

"Every single day."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Today was Alonzo's last full day in Seabrook and everything was planned out. His mom and sister were both getting 24-hour licenses; Hazel was going to drive him to the dormitories on campus and help him move in, and Lindzey, although she claimed she was just helping, too, wanted to be able to see where her big brother was going and say goodbye to him properly once they were there. Both of the Morgan siblings were disappointed to hear that Zipper couldn't join them on the journey, but it really wasn't a good idea to take a dog with them that far. What cheered Al up instantly was Zephyr telling him he'd also be going with them.

Zeph had his Z-band licensed along with Hazel and Lindzey, completely prepared to make the trip with the three of them, help Alonzo move in then share a heartfelt goodbye until they'd be able to see each other again. That was the plan, at least.

Technically, while they were in the zombie containment facility getting their licenses, Al could only be in the room with his family, so he sat with his mom and sister as they went through the process. The second they got out, though, he was eager to see Zephyr. He would be done soon after them and Al walked slowly down the hall behind Hazel and Lindzey, looking up at every opening door hoping it was Zeph. When it was, he couldn't resist running over to hug him then insisting on seeing his band, and as soon as he saw the icon there, he looked at him, grinned and planted a kiss on Zephyr's cheek. Zephyr was laughing happily with him but it didn't take long for Al to spot the sadness in his eyes. He reached out a hand to cup his cheek, slightly concerned.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"What?" Zeph just kept smiling and shrugged, "Nothing."

In an attempt to distract Al, and also himself, Zephyr placed a hand flat on his chest and stood on tip-toe, gently brushing his lips against Alonzo's.

"Zeph..." Al murmured in warning but when Zephyr pulled him by his shirt into a kiss, he seemed to forget what he was saying.

"It's nothing," Zephyr assured him and moved his hand to his long hair, "Just thinking how much I'm gonna miss you, garzi'ka."

They left the building hand-in-hand to find Hazel and Lindzey waiting for them. When she saw them, Lin shot them a teasing smile and puckered her lips, making kissy-face noises until Al brought his whole hand down on her face. She squealed in surprise and threw him off as the boys laughed. Now at almost fifteen years old, Lindzey was even more of a nuisance to her big brother.

"Get all of that out of your system now, you two, you won't be able to once Al's gone," Hazel reminded them with a soft smile.

Lindzey rolled her eyes and looked away. Dropping Zephyr's hand, Alonzo gently tugged on her ponytail, making her turn back around sharply to glare at him as she fixed it.

"You know you're gonna miss me."

"Yeah, right," she joked, "I'm claiming your bedroom as mine after tomorrow."

"Like hell you are! You _have_ a room at Mom's. And if anyone's getting mine, it's Zipper."

"Or I could have two rooms."

"_Or _you could-"

"That's enough!" Hazel cut in, though she wasn't exactly angry, "Nobody is taking Alonzo's room, that includes Zipper. Now, don't you two have somewhere to be?" she asked, looking at the boys.

For the rest of the evening, Al would be hanging out with his friends and that night, he'd be staying over at his boyfriend's. With that reminder, he quickly hugged Hazel and she kissed his cheek, then he gave Lindzey's ponytail another tug and she shot him an annoyed look until he wrapped an arm around her and she gave in and smiled, leaning into him for a second. He took Zephyr's hand again.

"We'll see you both in the morning," Hazel said, "And don't be too late, we need to leave before nine o'clock."

"We'll be there."

They said goodbye and headed off towards the old power plant. Alonzo picked up the pace a little as they got closer with Zephyr easily keeping up.

"Hey, what's the rush?"

"The sooner we get there, the sooner we go to your place," Al winked, "And have some alone time."

Zeus and Zynthia, the twins' parents, worked late most nights and didn't get home till around midnight. Rizzo was out with Zane and a few other friends, and she usually got back only a couple of hours before them.

Zephyr felt his heart beat, but it wasn't the thought of time alone with Al that caused it. Time was moving on, and going back home meant the day would be ending. Today ending meant tomorrow was coming. And tomorrow meant Alonzo was leaving.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

The power plant was empty and the four of them were free to roam around. Zach pulled the lever to turn on the multicoloured lights all across the dancefloor once they stepped out of the elevator and they all stood for a moment to take it in.

"It's gonna be a while until we're all together here again," he sighed and stepped forward.

"Yeah..." Alonzo nodded, joining him in the centre of the floor and slinging one arm over his shoulders, "But just imagine our big comeback...!"

Behind them, Zephyr watched Al with a wistful look on his face and Roz's eyes slowly drifted between them. She frowned.

"Zeph?"

"Huh?"

"You doing OK?"

"What?" he shook his head and turned to face her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"... No reason."

By then, the elevator doors had closed fully and Alonzo and Zach turned around. Al tilted his head, staring past Zephyr and Roz.

"You think he ever expected we'd get this far?"

They turned around to look at the mural on the doors; the one of Z, the very first zombie, that Bonzo had painted years ago. Z, who had lost his human name and his freedom to the zombie patrol, and who inevitably died at their hands, fighting for their rights.

"Jazarah..." Alonzo muttered, and his friends echoed him. It was a fairly common short prayer to Z, a way to give thanks for what he did.

After that, they spent an hour or so wondering around, recounting stories of zombie mashes and band practices and everything else that they could ever remember happening within these walls. They ended up on one of the walkways above the floor, not far from the lighting booth Eliza would usually operate. Roz was lying on the floor, their arms up under their head, trying to stay awake. Zach stood leaning over the railing, looking down. Alonzo and Zephyr sat with their legs dangling over the edge, Zeph's head on Al's shoulder. He hadn't said much the whole time they were there but Al and Zach assumed he was just thinking. Roz, however, could tell something was up. They had tried to ask him about it again, but he kept denying there was anything wrong.

He finally spoke up now.

"Al...?"

"Hm?"

"Sing something."

"Why?" Alonzo smirked, "All this peace and quiet too much for you?"

Zephyr nestled into the crook of his neck, "Come on. You're not gonna be here to randomly burst into song out of nowhere after tomorrow. Sing us something."

Al nudged him playfully, "I knew you always secretly liked that."

"Yeah, yeah, just pick a song already."

Roz laughed and reached up to ruffle Zeph's hair before he shoved them off as Al thought.

"_This song goes out to my good friends..._" he started to sing and the others all felt themselves smile, "_Especially the ones I had before the Grammy nominations of 2003 and to all the girls from back in high school who actually spoke to me, even though I was a fat kid and a marching band geek..._"

Zach joined in, "_I hope this song finds you well..._" then Roz, too, "_And I hope that you're doing fucking swell..._" and finally Zephyr, "_I hope that you're back up if you've ever been down..._"

They all went silent as Alonzo shouted out loud into the empty room and his voice echoed off the walls.

"_And I hope you got the_ _fuck out of our hometown...!_"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

At last, they were alone together in Zephyr's room. The entire walk home, Al had been talking and laughing about anything and everything and Zephyr could do nothing but stare at him and wonder how it was possible.

How was he this lucky? How did he ever make Alonzo Morgan fall in love with him? How had he managed to hold onto him for this long and never drive him away?

And how, for the love of Z, was he going to survive without him?

The second he walked through the door, Alonzo went straight to flop back onto Zephyr's bed and, once Zeph was close enough, he pulled him down with him. He laughed at the surprised look on his face and kissed him but soon, Zephyr sat up and Al's laughter faded.

"Zeph?" he sat up as well, looking at him curiously. Zephyr was sitting back, staring down at the floor, lost in thought. Alonzo edged closer to him, "Is something wrong? You've been acting weird all night."

"I know, I just..." he sighed, "I can't do this."

"Do what?"

"Anything," he lifted his head, slowly meeting Al's eyes, "I can't do anything without you."

Alonzo shuffled even closer, bringing a hand up to Zephyr's face, "You think this isn't hard for me, too? It would've been so much easier for me to leave if I didn't have you, Zeph."

_Then don't leave_, he wanted to say. It was too late for that, though, and he knew how much Alonzo wanted this. But that voice refused to be ignored.

"But I'm not giving you up," Al kissed his cheek, then nuzzled into his neck and pressed another kiss there. He smiled slyly, "When's Rizzo getting back, again...?"

"I don't know," Zephyr shrugged, "Soon?" He still seemed distracted, which was incredibly out of character seeing as Alonzo was practically in his lap. Al tried to kiss him again and when he barely got any response, he frowned.

"What's up with you?"

"I-" He couldn't focus. The voice in his head was drowning everything else out, he had to shut it up first.

_This isn't about you_, he told himself,_ It's his life. And it doesn't have to revolve around you._

"I can't believe you'd be this selfish..."

"_What?_"

Zephyr froze when he realised that he had just spoken out loud, and that Alonzo was looking at him in confusion.

"You..." Al moved back, "You think I'm being _selfish_?"

The right thing to do was to take it back, apologise and explain himself, but he did none of those things. Instead, he let his thoughts spill out.

"You're just gonna leave me..." he couldn't stop himself, "You're leaving me here, alone, without you..." why couldn't he stop himself?

He'd accused Alonzo of being selfish. _Why had he accused Alonzo of being selfish?_ _He_ was the one being selfish, not Al...

"I-I'm not-"

"Yes, you are!" Zephyr refused to look at him "You're leaving, you're gonna be too far away and you're not gonna have time for me."

He was somehow starting to convince himself. Or was he projecting his guilt onto Alonzo? Something was bubbling up inside him.

"I'll make time!"

It began to build...

"You won't," he got up, pacing around the room, "You'll be too busy. You'll have work to do, you'll have new friends, where am I supposed to fit into that?"

"I thought you were happy for me! I have wanted this for so long, Zephyr. Where is this even coming from? What happened to my supportive boyfriend, huh?"

... And build...

"What happened to _mine_?"

Alonzo jumped to his feet, "Nothing! I'm right here!"

"You won't be after tomorrow. How are we supposed to last like that?"

"I'll still be there, we can still talk every day and I'll come back."

"To see your mom and your sister, and for your Z-band checks. When you need to."

"And when I need to see _you_! I'm always gonna come back to you."

_... And build..._

"How do you know? You can't see the future, Al, you don't know what's gonna happen at college. You don't know what's gonna happen to _us_. Don't you care about that?"

"How can you even say that? Of course I care! I'm not gonna forget you and move on just 'cause you're not around! Zeph, I _love_ you, I-"

"You said it yourself, Al. It would be easier for you to leave if you didn't have _me_."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Until he burst.

"It doesn't matter what you meant, it's _over_!"


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

... Not much to say. I'm breaking up Zephzo. You knew it was coming. You saw the title. I'm breaking up my Fav Boys

**Chapter 2 theme songs: **A-hole by Bowling For Soup, It's Over from The Cheetah Girls 2 and Forever & Always by Taylor Swift

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~ I go round and round and round in my head, wanting to take back whatever I said ~

Chapter 2

A stunned silence filled the room. Neither Alonzo nor Zephyr could believe the words still hanging in the air.

_It's over!_

The look on Al's face pained Zephyr to his very core, yet he couldn't find his voice in all the guilt and regret already stirring inside him. He was staring at him, eyes wide, his lips parted in shock, so lost and betrayed. Then his whole demeanour changed, hardening as he frowned and his jaw locked. When Al realised Zephyr wasn't going to say anything, not even a simple 'I'm sorry', he stepped back.

"Fine," he spat, blinking away the tears threatening to show, "If you wanna end this over something so _stupid_, at least now I can leave Seabrook with nothing holding me back."

He turned to go.

_Stop him._

He didn't.

_Say something!_

He couldn't.

Alonzo walked right out the door and Zephyr wasn't doing anything about it. He stood there, stunned by his own words, as he listened to Al's footsteps hurriedly descending the staircase and the front door flying open. It didn't close, though. He waited for a few seconds; maybe he wouldn't leave. Maybe he'd come back up, even just to yell at him. At least it would mean he wasn't leaving. But the house was silent.

_Oh, dear Z_, Zephyr thought, _What did I just do?_

He slowly sank down to sit on the corner of his bed.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Rizzo was approaching the house as the front door swung open and Alonzo hopped off the porch, eager to get away as fast as possible. She stopped in her tracks at the look on his face, a shockingly uncharacteristic mix of angry and heartbroken.

"Oh, my Z, Al, what happened? Are you OK?"

He barely acknowledged her. He kept moving in the opposite direction, not even looking at her, "Why don't you ask your _brother_?"

He said the word 'brother' with such disdain, Rizzo went from concerned to scared. She turned to the door, which was still hanging open, then briefly glanced back at Al as he disappeared around the corner, before she hurried inside and closed the door behind her. She went straight for the stairs.

"Zephyr?" she called out to no response, "_Zephyr_?!" But as she got closer to his room, she heard the unmistakable sound of crying. The door was cracked just a bit and she cautiously pushed it open, peeking around to assess the damage before she walked in.

Zephyr was sitting on his bed, his back to the wall, his knees drawn to his chest and his face hidden in his folded arms. With a soft gasp, Rizzo stepped inside and his head snapped up in surprise. Fresh tears were dripping down his cheeks.

"Oh, my baby...!" she all but ran over to him, climbed onto the bed and pulled him into a hug, "What's wrong? I just saw Alonzo storming outta the house and, I mean, it's _Al_, he doesn't _storm_ anywhere! What happened?"

The mere mention of Al made Zephyr's breath catch in his throat and Rizzo pulled back to give him some room.

"... I'm so stupid..." he said once he could talk, "Why can't I ever just talk about my damn problems? I always have to keep quiet, don't I? Then I blow up and..." he gulped, trying not to start sobbing, and brought a hand to his head, "A-and I've just ruined everything, Riz. That's it. It's over."

"What's over?"

"Me and Al. _We're_ over. I broke up with him."

Rizzo gaped, "_What_? Why in Z's name would you do that?"

"'Cause I can't talk about things! I-I don't want him to go. But this is his dream, I can't tell him not to. What kinda boyfriend would I be if I held him back like that? But..." he paused, "Long distance...? With Alonzo? I can't do that. I can't live with just talking to him through a screen or whatever... We wouldn't last like that."

Rizzo stared at him for a moment, "So your solution to _possibly_ breaking up... was to break up?"

"I didn't _want_ to break up! Then he was here and we were talking about how he's leaving and it... it's real. It's too real. He's leaving. I wasn't thinking. I didn't know what I was saying. And I said some awful things to him," he rubbed at his eyes and turned to Rizzo, so lost and ashamed, "I didn't mean any of it. But I-I was so shocked at myself, I just... I don't know, I couldn't say anything else. I didn't stop him when he left, I didn't even try to apologise, I..." he took a breath, "... I'm never gonna see him again..."

They were both quiet for a few seconds, then Rizzo reached an arm behind him to pull him close and he rested his head on her shoulder. She gently rubbed his arm and her voice softened, "He doesn't leave until tomorrow, baby. You can talk to him before he goes and you can fix this. It doesn't have to be over."

As far as Zephyr could see, though, there was no hope of that working out.

"I can't. He isn't gonna want to see me after what I said."

"What did you say?"

"I called him selfish. And I said he didn't care about me. I acted like he was abandoning me or something. _I_ was being selfish thinking he should want to stay with me and I just... I put it all on him. I don't deserve another chance with him, Rizzo."

"Isn't it worth a shot, though? You can't just give up, you two have been together for so lo-"

Zephyr pushed her away, "It was a high school relationship, Riz. I shouldn't have expected it to last..." he muttered, his head hung low.

"You listen to me, Zephyr. What you and Alonzo had was _not_ just a high school thing. You dated in high school, but you were _together_ for over ten years," she reminded him. He didn't answer; his eyes were fixed on the wall opposite, "... Zephyr...?"

"I don't deserve him..." he repeated in the smallest whisper.

Rizzo sighed, "I'm not gonna change your mind, am I?" she asked and he shook his head, "Alright," then she smiled, "How about a girls' night?"

He was suddenly back to his normal self. Well, almost. Through the drying tear stains, he shot her an annoyed look, barely hiding the small smile quirking the corner of his mouth, "A _girls' night_? You kidding me?"

"Hey, I don't exactly hang out with a lot of other girls. And I don't have my own relationship problems to cope badly with. Let me live vicariously through you."

Zephyr finally let out a tiny laugh, "That's not a problem you want to have!"

Laughing with him, Rizzo tugged on his arm and he rolled his eyes, "Come _on_...! I'll let you into my secret chocolate stash," she teased, tilting her head towards him, "I have _heard_ that helps."

"What even _is_ a girls' night?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. Watch a bunch of cheesy movies, eat junk food and talk about boys."

"You don't talk about boys."

"Or girls either, but you got that covered too," she cocked her head to one side in thought, "Y'know, sometimes I think you absorbed all my potential romantic feelings in the womb. Maybe that's why you have such a hard time with that stuff, you got two people's emotions in you."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"I'm studying psychology, Zephyr, I know how the brain works."

"And that's not it."

"You want the chocolate or not?"

There was a pause.

"... Yes."

"Then agree with my theory."

"Aren't you supposed to be comforting me right now?"

Another pause.

"... Go pick a movie, I'll meet you downstairs."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"What even is this?" Rizzo cringed.

Zephyr shrugged, mumbling "I dunno" around a mouthful of chocolate hearts (like, actual hearts. Not love hearts. Rizzo thought they were appropriate for the situation anyway). He wasn't really paying attention. He had picked it at random, not once looking at the title, and now he wasn't taking any of it in. He was just staring at the screen not caring what he was even watching. Almost all of the chocolate was long gone but Rizzo couldn't complain about him diminishing her supplies when she had offered it to him in the first place. Plus, he was heartbroken. He was allowed to have chocolate if he wanted it. The whole 'talking about boys' part wasn't going so well either. Rizzo prodded his leg with her toe.

"Are you _asking_ me to rip your foot off...?" Zephyr shot her a quick glance.

"It's time for the boy talk, Zeph."

"No, it's not."

"That's the whole point of this," she reminded him, "It doesn't have to be all touchy-feely stuff, just... _talk_. Say whatever comes to mind."

He shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just... mad at myself," he leaned into his hand, "I already miss him."

"Of course you do," Rizzo went to rub his shoulder but he jerked away.

"What is this gonna do, Riz? I already told you what happened. What's the use in talking about it anymore? It won't change anything."

"There's more to it than that. Talking it out and discussing it with someone helps you to figure out the root of the problem and what to do about it."

"There's nothing I _can_ do about it, though."

"Don't be so negative! You can go to see him in the morning and-"

Zephyr suddenly sat bolt upright, facing her, "He won't listen."

"You don't know that!"

"I _do_," he insisted, "I know him better than anyone. And I know he won't listen."

Rizzo sat back, her head in her hand, "And you were doing so well. I guess I can't really expect any more from you, though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zephyr asked defensively but Rizzo stayed calm.

"Just that you aren't used to talking about this kind of thing as much as you have. You can work on that," she paused, a curious look on her face, "... You don't even want to talk about Al? Just... in general?"

He went quiet.

"No..." he popped the last chocolate heart into his mouth, "That's only gonna make it worse."

"How?"

"It'll remind me just how stupid I am for letting him go."

After that, they watched the rest of the movie in almost complete silence, other than the occasional comment on the action, until they heard the front door open. Rizzo called out a short "Hi" while Zephyr turned further away from the door. He was going to have to _talk_ again, wasn't he? The credits started to roll right as their parents walked into the room, both of them surprised by what they saw. Or rather, what they didn't see.

"Zephyr?" Zynthia frowned, "Where's Alonzo? I thought you were supposed to be helping him move tomorrow."

_Oh. Right._

Zephyr hesitated, then looked to Rizzo, who winced. She could tell he didn't want to have to say it all over again and gave him a questioning look.

_Do you want me to...?_

He just nodded and dropped his eyes to his lap.

"Mom...?" she said softly, "He's not going anymore."

Their parents exchanged a look of confusion, "And why not?"

"Me and Al..." Zeph started in a small voice, keeping his head down, "We broke up..."

At that, Zynthia's face softened, her mouth hanging open for a moment.

Zeus stepped forward to ask, "What happened?" but Zephyr still wouldn't look up at him, squirming uncomfortably.

"I just told Riz the whole story, Dad, I don't wanna have to go through it again."

"That bad, huh?" Zeus raised an eyebrow and he nodded.

"Yeah. I..." he trailed off, feeling self-conscious with all his family looking at him, then stood up, "I think I'm just gonna go to bed..."

He headed for the staircase without another word and only a second later, his sister followed him.

Zephyr didn't speak as he and Rizzo went upstairs. Rizzo watched her brother closely; his blank expression made her uneasy, "Zeph...?"

He paused at the top of the staircase and turned around to face her, leaning back against the wall, "I forgot about that. I forgot I was gonna go with him. I can't believe this..." he shook his head. He looked about ready to start crying again, "I-I'm not even gonna get to say goodbye to him. I never thought about that."

"Who's stopping you from going over there in the morning, though? So you probably won't win him back," Rizzo shrugged one shoulder and Zeph gave her a blank 'you're not helping' stare, "But that doesn't mean you can't still say goodbye. And tell him your sorry."

"There's no point," Zephyr told her plainly and headed into his own room, "I'm going to bed."

"Hold on," Rizzo grabbed his arm and turned him around, "Do you want me to tell Mom and Dad what happened?"

He shrugged, "I mean, it'd save me having to do it. But you don't need to tell 'em _everything_, right?"

"Don't worry," she said with an understanding smile, "I won't make you sound _completely_ heartless."

She went back downstairs and Zephyr closed his bedroom door. At first, he just stood there, then he let out a long sigh and ran his hands through his hair and down his face. This was _not_ how tonight was supposed to go. But as he was getting ready for bed, he realised there was still someone left to tell. Someone he might actually feel at least slightly better about talking to.

A minute later, a groggy "Hello?" was coming from the speaker of his Z-band.

"Roz, you better wake up, this is important."

"I'm awake...!" he heard them whine, "What's the problem? Haven't you got a boyfriend you could be-"

"_No_," Zephyr nearly choked on the word, "No, I haven't."

"... Wait, _what_?"

"We..." he stopped. Why sugarcoat it? This was his best friend, "I broke up with him."

"Oh, my Z, for a second I thought you were gonna say he was de-" then his words sunk in and they fully snapped awake, "Wait a minute, you _what_?"

"I broke up with Alonzo." He closed his eyes, hating how that sounded.

"Why?"

"Because I'm an idiot. Obviously."

"Obviously," Roz agreed, "But, like, how'd you go from... _being you_ to breaking up? And _now_?"

"It's been on my mind for a long time."

"Breaking up?"

"No!" Zephyr lay down, "That he's leaving. And we're not gonna be together all the time. And how much I'm gonna miss him..."

"Not really getting a reason to break up, here, Zeph."

He sat up again, "Roz, if he knew how I felt, he'd want to stay. Or he'd go but he'd be more concerned about me than his work. This is Al we're talking about! I couldn't say anything to him."

"Now this is starting to make sense," Roz said, "I knew there was something wrong with you at the power plant. But that doesn't explain how you ended up dumping him."

Zephyr grimaced, "It sounds so harsh when you say it like that."

"I'm tired. You know you don't get nice Roz this late at night," they groaned and Zephyr rolled his eyes, "Why'd you do it?"

"I wasn't thinking. Once I let one thing slip, everything came out and..." his voice dropped to almost a whisper, "... We'd break up eventually, anyway..."

"What makes you say that?"

"How close we are. Were."

"You're not making sense."

"If we had to be separated for that long, we'd break up eventually. It wouldn't work. Might as well get the heartache over with now..."

Neither of them said a word for a little while.

"... You need to talk to him."

"I can't."

"Sure you can!" he could imagine them nudging him encouragingly, but it didn't matter, "If you go over to his place early enough-"

"I can't. Roz, he's not gonna listen, trust me."

"He might!"

"He _won't_."

"Zephyr-"

He had already hung up. Immediately feeling guilty, Zephyr rolled over and willed himself to go to sleep. Roz tried to call him back but he ignored it. When the ringing had stopped, his band beeped and a text from Roz appeared, simply saying 'You better talk to him!'. He pretended he didn't see it.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Alonzo wasn't going to let just anyone see him cry. He was the positive one, the optimistic one.

He was supposed to be setting off on his new life journey tomorrow morning, he was supposed to be happy. He was supposed to be... _himself_. He bit back the tears all the way home then the moment he slammed the front door shut behind him, he choked. His mom appeared from upstairs, shocked for more reasons than one. First off, Al didn't slam doors. Not unless his father was involved. And second, she hadn't expected him home that night. He was meant to be staying at Zephyr's, wasn't he? Then third, Hazel Morgan stopped at the sight of her son, who was standing with his back against the door like it was the only thing keeping him upright, crying. And ugly crying, too. She couldn't even remember the last time she saw him like this. Shaking herself from her stupor, she surged forwards and reached up to take his face in her hands.

"Al?" her voice was laced with concern as she brushed his long hair back and he looked down at her, eyes shining with tears, "What's wrong? Did something happen at Zephyr's...? Why are you home?"

Alonzo swallowed and tried to catch his breath. Once he did, he just barely managed to spit out the words, "He broke up with me..." before he was crying again.

Hazel's mouth fell open, "Wh- Oh, sweetheart, come here...!" She wrapped her arms around him, letting him cry against her as she rubbed his back. After some time, his breathing evened out and he pulled away. Hazel took a moment to take in his expression before speaking again, "You want to tell me what happened?" She wasn't going to pry, but it was only natural for her to be concerned when she saw her son like this.

"... Not right now."

It wasn't easy for her to not ask questions, but if he wasn't up for it, that was his decision. Still, he was acting so out of character. Hazel knew how much Zephyr meant to Alonzo, and how much Alonzo meant to Zephyr, for that matter. Or how much he _had_ meant to Zephyr. She let it go for the time being and nodded, "OK. Just let me know when you feel up to talking."

"I will," Al promised, "... I'm gonna go call Zach. Maybe ask him to come by in the morning."

He went straight upstairs and shut his bedroom door behind him. He ran a hand through his hair, taking a moment to let himself calm down as best he could, then called Zach.

"Yo, what's up? You having fun at Zeph's?"

Al inwardly groaned at his suggestive tone, "Zach, now's not really the time for that..."

"Wait, what's wrong? You sound like you've been crying or something."

"Uh..." Al took a breath, which ended up coming out ragged, "Yeah. Yeah, I have been."

"What? Why? Where's Zephyr? Isn't he with you?" Zach sounded slightly frantic. He was definitely worried.

Al steadied his breathing, "No, he's- I-I'm back home..."

"Without him?"

Might as well just say it. He already had once.

"He broke up with me."

The line went quiet for a second. Two. Three. Four...

"He _what_?"

"Please don't make me say it again," Alonzo groaned and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall, "I already had to say it to my mom when I came home early..."

"Zephyr actually...?"

"Yeah. He did," he paused, "I don't... really wanna talk about it right now, I just wanted to tell you. Can you come over in the morning? Before I leave?"

"Of course. As early as I can."

"Thanks."


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

I've sort of split up the story into 3 "acts/arcs", I guess, and with this chapter, we close out the first act~ Al's off to college and Zephyr is still in Seabrook...

**Chapter 3 theme songs: **Goodbye Friend by Bowling For Soup, Get Happy by Bowling For Soup, He's My Boy from Everybody's Talking About Jamie and White Horse by Taylor Swift

* * *

~ This is a big world, that was a small town, there in my rear-view mirror disappearing now ~

Chapter 3

"I don't get it. _I don't get it_. It doesn't make any sense!"

As promised, Zach had shown up on Al's doorstep bright and early the following morning, and now he was standing in his almost-empty bedroom, looking like he could lose his band at any moment. Alonzo sat back and watched him, strangely apathetic. It was hard for Zach to see him like this, so quiet and dejected. What had happened for him to end up like this?

"Run this by me again."

Alonzo shook his head and shrugged, completely lost, "He dumped me. Hard. Like, he just said 'it's over' and that was it. He didn't even say anything else after that."

That wasn't good enough. That was _not_ good enough.

"What about before?" Zach asked, "How'd it get to that? I mean, you were at his place, right?"

"Yeah. He was still acting weird, though, like at the power plant," Al explained, "He was upset about me leaving and I get that, but then I was kissing him and it was like he didn't care. I'm basically all over him and he's totally distracted, like I'm not even there!"

"I thought you guys talked about the long-distance thing?"

"We did! We had it figured out, and he was gonna come with me today to help me move and actually say goodbye but I guess that's not gonna happen."

"OK, so back to the story. You're trying to make out and he doesn't care?"

"Yeah, so, I asked him what was wrong and out of nowhere, he called me selfish!" Al continued, "And he starts going on about how I'm leaving him and I'm not gonna have time for him and how there won't be any room for him in my life anymore 'cause I don't care enough...!"

Zach rolled his eyes, "There's been plenty of room for him for the past ten years," he paused and looked away, seething. Alonzo sat up.

"He hasn't tried to call or text or anything since then. And he obviously didn't show up here. No apology, no explanation, nothing...!"

Zach was chewing on his lip, then he turned to Al with a serious expression, "I swear to Z, when I see him, I'm gonna-"

"Hey!" Al cut him off quickly, "Zach, don't. It's not gonna help. Don't even try to talk to him."

"But...!" Zach started to protest but stopped when Al shut him down again.

"If he doesn't think I'm worth his time then..." he let out a shaky breath, "I guess he's not worth mine."

This was so wrong.

"Maybe he's not worth your time, but that doesn't stop _me_!"

"_Don't_," the sharpness in Alonzo's tone was enough to make Zach falter, "Can this just be, like... just a clean break? I'm leaving anyway. I'm moving on with my life. I might as well let him go."

There was a pause and Zach gave him a disbelieving look, "You don't sound like you want to..."

"Of course I don't want to!" Al snapped, a little out of nowhere, "But I don't really have a choice."

Zach would have said something but Hazel was calling from downstairs. Alonzo picked up his backpack and guitar case and walked out of the room without another word. Zach followed behind, knowing it should have been Zephyr there in his place.

But in the end, Zach was the one to help Alonzo and Hazel pack up the last of Al's things. At some point, Paizley, Zed and Bonzo appeared to also say goodbye and when they asked why Zephyr wasn't there, he was the one to place a comforting hand on Al's shoulder and explain. They were all understandably surprised. Bonzo immediately engulfed Al in a bear hug, which, despite being a little too tight as per usual for him, Al certainly appreciated. Zed and Paizley offered their own words of reassurance and the three of them wished him luck for the future, but Zach could tell that he wasn't taking any of it in. He put on a fake smile and seemed to have them fooled, but Zach knew his best friend.

Alonzo stayed mostly quiet when his dad came to drop Lindzey off, Zipper trotting along obediently at her side. Lin must have insisted on letting Al say bye to him as well. For once, his dad made the bare-minimum effort to at least politely say goodbye to him, though Al avoided eye contact and just hummed in response, crouching down to ruffle Zipper's fur and kiss him.

He turned to his ex-wife, "What's his problem? I'm actually trying here, you know."

"It's not my place to tell you," Hazel replied calmly, "That's his business. And you have never taken any interest in his business before."

As they talked, or more accurately, argued, Lindzey cast a concerned glance over to Al, who was leaning back against the car with Zach beside him, saying something to him under his breath. She decided not to interupt.

"You gonna be OK, man?"

Al nodded, "I just need a little time."

Zach paused, then placed his hands on Al's shoulders.

"Just remember that there is someone here who misses you."

Al cracked a smile and shoved him off, "Are you seriously quoting Bowling For Soup lyrics at me right now?"

Zach had to feel a little bit proud of himself – that was a genuine smile, after all, "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"I guess," Al straightened up, then he threw his arms around Zach, hugging him close, "Thanks for coming."

"Any time," Zach said, and he meant it. He pulled back to look him in the eyes, "I'm just a call away."

They hugged once again before it was time for Alonzo to leave. Zach hung back as he watched them drive away, waving to Al with a sad smile on his face. And that was it. He was gone. He'd be back for visits, and for Z-band maintenance checks, but he was essentially... _gone_. Once they were out of sight, Zach had to hold himself back from going and tracking down Zephyr to give him a piece of his mind.

He stood there on the street for a few minutes, mulling it over in his head. And decided he couldn't hold himself back any longer.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

It was a good thing Zynthia and Zeus were already out of the house, because they probably wouldn't have appreciated Zach Fairmourn banging on their door and shouting their son's name at this hour.

Rizzo didn't much appreciate it, either, and stormed out of the living room as Zephyr hurriedly, and nervously, came downstairs.

"What in the name of _Z_ is going on? What is he doing here?"

Zephyr stopped halfway down the staircase, "What do you _think_?"

He made his way over to the door with Rizzo watching him, leaning against the banister.

"I told you, you should've gone to talk to Al before he left."

"I get it!" he spun back around to bark at her, "Don't you think I have enough to regret right now? If you're not gonna help me, then get out of here. I don't need you making things even more complicated."

Rolling her eyes, Rizzo started upstairs, calling to him over her shoulder, "Fine, but you better not come crying to me again when this goes wrong, too. I'm getting tired of being your personal therapist."

She disappeared and Zephyr took a breath before opening the door, which Zach was still beating against and, it sounded like, kicking. The second he laid eyes on Zephyr, Zach's temper rose even higher.

"Zach..." Zeph sounded slightly scared.

_Good. He should be._

"You are _in for it_, now...! Do you have any idea what you've done to him?"

"I can guess," Zephyr said, "But please, just hear me out and-"

"No," Zach interrupted him, "I don't care what your excuse is, Zephyr, you don't get to hurt my best friend like that. And don't even try to tell me he was your best friend first," he said when Zephyr opened his mouth again, "'Cause a best friend wouldn't treat him like that."

"I know!" Zephyr admitted right as Zach started coming towards him, even backing up a few steps and raising his hands in defence, "I know. I know I hurt him and I know I don't deserve a second chance, but I... I'm so, _so_ sorry..." He hung his head in shame but Zach just glared.

"I'm not the one you need to apologise to."

Zephyr squeezed his eyes shut, "I _want_ to apologise to him. I wanna tell him I didn't mean any of it. _Vak_, I..." he brushed past Zach and started pacing, "I would literally throw myself at his feet and beg for him to forgive me and take me back, but it's too late now. Does he even want to hear that? I doubt he'd listen, and I wouldn't blame him."

Before he could continue, Zach held up his hands to stop him, confused.

"Wait," he frowned, "Wait a minute, what are you even saying? _You_ broke up with _him_, now you're talking about _him_ taking _you_ back?"

With a weak-sounding groan, Zephyr sank down onto the stairs with his head in his hands. After a few seconds, he looked up at Zach again.

"Alright, here it is: when he was over at my place last night, I couldn't stop thinking about how that was basically our last night together. It'd be, like, forever until I saw him again. I couldn't even enjoy having that time with him, my mind was practically screaming at me that I was gonna lose him if I let him go, I wanted to ask him to stay here. But it's so unbelievably selfish to think like that. And I let that slip out..." he growled in frustration at himself and Zach slowly sat down, staring at him, "I didn't mean to say it out loud. It sounded like I was calling _him_ selfish. So I panicked. And instead of taking it back, 'cause the only thing on my mind was everything that was wrong, I just blurted it all out. Every little thing I kept bottled up about him leaving... Zach, the look on his face..." he let out a shaky breath, "... It broke him. I can't believe I said those things to him. I felt so guilty... But if we tried to make long-distance work... I can't see that happening. We'd miss being together too much. _I'd_ miss being together too much. And besides, I already hurt him. He shouldn't have to hold on to somebody who'd talk to him like I did."

Zach, not knowing what to say, let out a low whistle, "... Wow..."

"I know. I'm a _mess_."

"And people think Al's the dumb one."

Zephyr couldn't help but laugh tearfully, "He's not. He is _so_ not..." he shook his head, "He doesn't pay attention sometimes, and he gets bored and distracted easy but he's not dumb. He's talented. He's thoughtful. He's been through so much with his family but he's always so positive. He's so _passionate_...!" he dropped his head back into his hands. Zach watched him, the slightest hint of a smile creeping onto his face, "... And I am so, _so_ in love with him."

"At least you got that going for you."

Zephyr just sniffed, "What am I supposed to do? I know I can't tie him down, I know he won't want to see me or even hear from me, I know I have to accept this as it is but... I-I want him back. I can't have him and it's my own fault but I want him so bad...!"

Zach smacked him upside the head and Zephyr flinched, his hand flying to the spot as he let out a shocked gasp. He stared at Zach, who stared back with a blank expression for a moment, then raised an eyebrow when Zephyr opened his mouth to say something. He closed his mouth, thought again, and then spoke.

"Alright, I deserve that but you could warn a guy, y'know?"

Zach just shook his head, "You didn't deserve a warning," he said plainly, "Look, I get what you're saying here. You're sorry. You regret it. You want him back," he gave Zephyr a stern look, "But are you actually going to _do_ something about it?"

"Like what?" Zephyr asked, genuinely unsure. Zach rolled his eyes, gesturing to Zeph's Z-band.

"I dunno, _call him_?"

"What, you expect him to answer when he sees _my name_ on the screen?"

With a growl of frustration, Zach leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He had a point.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

With a roughly three-hour-long car ride ahead of them, the Morgan family had a lot of time to talk but for once, Alonzo didn't have all that much to say. He'd told Lindzey about the breakup, as briefly as he could, then sat staring out of the window, trying to pretend he couldn't hear as his mom delicately explained to her the finer details. After that, though, no-one said a word for some time.

Alonzo eventually broke the silence when he happened to look in the mirror and caught sight of Lindzey in the backseat, typing something on her Z-band with a small smile on her face.

"Who you texting?"

Lindzey's head snapped up and they locked eyes in the mirror. She dropped her hands into her lap, "No-one."

That only made him more curious. He quirked an eyebrow but she folded her arms in defiance and turned to look out the window instead. Confused, Alonzo turned to his mom, asking a silent question. In response, she mouthed the name 'Connor'. He frowned.

"_Connor_?"

Hazel sighed softly at his lack of subtlety.

He recognised the name. He had heard Lindzey talk about Connor – some human kid from her school – before, but nothing had ever stood out about him compared to her others friends, or anyone else she mentioned, for that matter.

"What're you texting him for?"

Lindzey shrugged, then quickly went back to typing when her Z-band beeped again, "No reason."

"... Then why text...?"

Getting his attention, Hazel shot him a strange look. She raised her eyebrows and glanced back at Lindzey. It took Al a minute to figure out what she was trying to tell him and behind them, Lindzey shut her eyes, bringing one hand to her face.

"Wait, what?" Al said when he eventually caught on and turned around. Lindzey peeked through her fingers at him, "Lin, aren't you kinda young for a boyfriend?"

She dropped her hand, "You're kidding me. Weren't you my age when you had your first and only boyfriend?"

"I was fifteen."

"I'll be fifteen in a couple of weeks!"

"Alright, but still, that was different!" he slowly turned back around, sliding down a little in his seat, "We'd been friends for years, it was gonna happen sooner or later..." he trailed off but Lindzey didn't notice right away.

"I've known Connor for years! So it's not as long as you knew Zephyr, big deal! Weren't your other friends dating at fifteen, too?"

At the mention of Zephyr's name, Alonzo swallowed a lump in his throat and leaned against the window. Hazel looked over at him worriedly and Lindzey suddenly felt like she'd done something wrong. She leaned forward.

"Al...? You OK?"

"Lindzey, sit back, honey," Hazel chided her and she obeyed, "Alonzo?"

"I'm fine," he said in an oddly icy tone, not looking at either of them. Lindzey frowned.

"Are you su-"

Alonzo suddenly whipped round to face her, "I said I'm _fine_, alright?" and she was shocked by his anger. Evidently, their mom was, too.

"Alonzo, don't take it out on your sister, she's just worried about you...!"

"Well, it's none of her business."

"_Al_..."

He wavered under her stern gaze and reluctantly looked back at Lindzey, "I'm sorry."

She mumbled "It's OK," and they fell back into silence.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Once they arrived, Alonzo was acting a bit more like himself. They had a couple of hours, tops, before Hazel and Lindzey would have to leave to go back to Seabrook before their licenses expired, and they used their time wisely. Everything was unpacked soon enough and they ate lunch together. It was odd not having any zombie foods; meat had been banned in Zombie Town until only a couple of years ago and all zombie food was flavoured to mimic the taste of flesh or organs, a way to keep the zombies' lingering cravings under control. At least they _could_ eat meat now, and it actually helped to appease the cravings, contrary to what the humans who banned it believed.

Back at the dorm again, Hazel fussed over Al, whether or not he had everything, what he still needed to do, and just general motherly worrying until he finally calmed her down and she and Lindzey said their goodbyes. It was right before they left that Alonzo's new roommate showed up. A boy shorter than Al, though that wasn't a surprise – the only competition Al had ever had for height was Zed and Bonzo – who seemed friendly and laid-back enough, though it was clear he was looking at their green hair and their dark eyes and their Z-bands. At first, Al wasn't sure what to say to him other than exchanging greetings, but once his mom and sister were gone, he worked up the nerve to talk to him. He tried to sound casual.

"Didn't they warn you that you'd be rooming with a zombie?"

The boy smiled, albeit a little awkwardly, so that was a good sign, "Well, yeah, they did, but if I'm honest, I don't really know a lot about zombies. Or, you know..." he fake-cringed, "_Anything_ about zombies. At least, not _real_ zombies."

Al chuckled, glad to finally talk about something else besides Zephyr, "Did you even know there _were_ real zombies?"

"Nope," he shook his head. There was a pause as they went back to their own things then the boy turned back to Al. He hesitated for a second or two before he spoke, "Did they warn _you_ that you'd be rooming with a gay guy?"

That seemed to lift a weight off Alonzo's shoulders. At least it was one less thing to worry about. He smiled and shook his head, "No, but that's not gonna be a problem. I'm bi, so."

They both grinned.

"Well, that's the important stuff out of the way, I think we should get to the actual introductions. My name's Jay."

"Alonzo. But just call me Al."

They kept talking as they went about unpacking and making whatever decisions needed to be made about the dorm. Al learned that Jay had grown up in the area, was majoring in music composition (he played piano and had already set up a keyboard in his room), and had a boyfriend who was attending another college in the next town over. When asked if he was in a relationship, though, Alonzo only briefly touched on the breakup. He changed the subject and told Jay a little bit about Seabrook's zombies and the integration program, and how it had made it possible for him to even be there.

By the time he closed his bedroom door, he was exhausted, mostly from keeping up appearances and hiding his sadness. Before he could go to bed, though, he wanted to check in with Zach and let him know how things were going.

"Hey, man, how's college living so far?"

"Weird. There's just humans everywhere. And no potato fingers."

"But no cauli-brains, either."

"Thank _Z_, I was getting so sick of that stuff. Still," he fell back on his new bed, "No fingers."

"Tragic," there was a smile in Zach's voice, "You had any other problems yet? Anyone freaking out about you being a zombie or anything?"

"I haven't really talked to a lot of people yet. Apart from my roommate. Who is gay, by the way. So I have someone to joke around and be confused by the straights with in your absence."

"Oh?" Zach paused, "... Is he cute?"

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"I'm asking for you," he explained, but Al couldn't read his tone, "You are single now, after all."

"Oh, my Z, Zach, it's been _a day_..." Al laughed a little, "_He's_ got a boyfriend, anyway."

He heard Zach sigh, though it sounded fake, "So I guess you haven't moved on yet?"

"No..." Al frowned, "... Why...?"

It took a few seconds for Zach to say anything.

"... I talked to Zephyr..."

Al closed his eyes, scrubbing his hand down his face, "Zach, I told you not to..."

"I know, I know, but I did," he sounded apologetic enough, but then he hesitated and his next words made Alonzo suddenly sit up, glaring down at his Z-band, "And I think you should hear him out."

"_What?_" he snapped, "You know what he said to me, right?"

"I _know_! Just... look, he regrets it. OK? He-"

"He regrets it," Al laughed coldly, "He shoulda thought of that when he said it. He had a chance to take it back and he didn't say a word." He heard Zach sigh.

"All I'm saying is call him. He made a huge mistake, but you guys can fix it and go back to how things were meant to be."

"Wow. 'Meant to be', huh? You know, if I was _meant to be_ with Zephyr, this wouldn't have happened," he paused, "And _you're_ meant to be my best friend. 'Cause Zephyr sure as hell isn't."

"I _am_!"

"Then act like it!"

"I'm trying to!" Zach shouted down the line, "I'm trying to help you, here, you know."

"Well, you're not, Zach. Zephyr doesn't care about me. Maybe he's got you convinced that he does but if he really cared he would do something about it himself."

"... Alonzo..." Zach's quiet voice was just barely audible but Al quickly ended the call. Being betrayed by Zephyr – his first best friend, before he was ever his boyfriend – had broken him. Now his second best friend had, too, and he couldn't handle it.

What had he done wrong? Everything was fine one minute then it was like a record scratch, sudden and jolting. Had he missed some kind of sign that things weren't working right? Was...

... Was he just not worth it? Was he not worth waiting for? Did the last three years mean _nothing_ to him?

Or the last _ten years_?

He remembered how, one day not too long after they had started dating, Zephyr had finally, _finally_, confessed to him the reason he hadn't said anything about his feelings for Alonzo for so long: he was scared of them breaking up. Because if they broke up, they might never be friends again. And, Zephyr had told him, Alonzo was too important to him to risk losing, as a boyfriend or as a friend.

And, like the _idiot_ he was, Al had believed him...

He'd let himself feel bad, for once. He had always been the positive one, he never let things get to him; the only thing he'd ever had any truly strong negative feelings towards was his dad. But tonight, he'd let it out and cry himself to sleep, because tomorrow would be different. Tomorrow, he was starting a new life. He had gotten out, away from Zombie Town, away from Seabrook, and he was going to live like a human. He was going to have the kind of life zombies had wished they could have for over fifty years. And if Zephyr didn't want to be a part of that life, well...

_Zragh vak._


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And we begin act 2...! Time to take a look at Alonzo's life at college, and at how Zephyr is (not) coping with him being gone...

**Chapter 4 theme songs: **Welcome To Hollywood by Mitchel Musso, Lost My Music by Cristina Vee, Circle by Bowling For Soup and Last Kiss by Taylor Swift

* * *

~ You better live it up before it brings you down ~

Chapter 4

So much for living like a human.

He'd expected things to be hard. On top of being openly bisexual, and him and Zephyr having had a 'public' relationship online, Alonzo was the only zombie on campus. Then again, there was only a handful of people outside of Seabrook who knew about Bowling For Zoup and their YouTube channel so he might not have to worry about anyone already knowing his sexuality, if he could just resist making any gay jokes until he knew who was safe. And most humans still didn't even know zombies existed, at least not this far away from Seabrook. His green hair, grey skin and red eyes probably looked like some weird fashion statement to them. A lot of people seemed to avoid him. And on top of that, he still couldn't help the way his thoughts kept drifting back to Seabrook. And Zephyr.

Jay had been sympathetic; he didn't pry when Al didn't want to talk too much about it but he did listen when he felt like opening up. Al didn't even really mention Zephyr by name to him – he was just "my ex", and Jay never pushed him for details.

What had thrown Al for a loop, though, was when a few days after moving into the dorms, he made a new discovery. A high school friend of Jay's had luckily gotten into the same college as him, in music production, and one day she stopped by their room to see him. The two were talking when Al came out of his room and Jay turned at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey, Al! Come over here, I want you to meet my friend, Lizzy."

"Oh, yeah, the zombie dude, hi!" she smiled across the room at him and held up her hand in a wave, "The guy everybody's talking about."

"Yeah, the green hair attracts a lot of attention," Al laughed at first then his brain seemed to catch up to him and he faltered, "Wait, your name's _Lizzy_?"

She nodded once and looked at him expectantly. His eyes dropped down to her wrist – no Z-band in sight – and back up again, squinting in confusion.

"... But you're human."

Lizzy mirrored his expression, obviously caught off guard, though she was still smiling, "Uh, yeah...? Am I not supposed to be human?"

Al shook his head, "No, it's just... back home, humans would never give their kids a Z name."

"Why not?" Jay asked.

_Might as well._

"'Cause it's a zombie thing. The first zombie had his human name taken away and they called him Z instead, then he became the leader of the whole zombie community and since the others couldn't remember their human names, they all took Z names to show solidarity. And they kept naming their kids that way even after he died."

Lizzy looked surprised, "Aren't zombies already dead?" and Al sighed.

"We're not like those horror movies, OK?" he explained, "We're kind of born half-dead, I guess. It's a mutation, we have super low heartrates and our brains don't really function without Z-bands but as long as we wear them, we're pretty much the same as humans."

The two humans nodded, not really understanding much but accepting it nonetheless. The conversation soon moved to other topics, classes and music and leaving home, and Lizzy ended up hanging out in the boys' dorm for a little while. So now, Al could say he had already made two friends at college, friends who he could relax and be himself around.

He wished he could say the same about some of the other humans he met.

Once people started to get that his green hair wasn't dye, and his grey skin wasn't makeup, things took a turn for the worse. Suddenly, people were scared of him. People were disgusted by him. People were avoiding him, taunting him, staring at him like an animal in a zoo, and it was like he'd been thrown back in time to those first weeks at Seabrook High.

He very quickly took to wearing hoodies everywhere he went, hiding his hair and his face under a hood and his Z-band under a sleeve. He even walked with his hands in his pockets just in case anyone saw their grey colour. If anyone did notice, he kept his head ducked and picked up the pace until he got to wherever he was going. He kept out of their way as best he could. It was almost impossible to be as upbeat and positive as he used to be, at least without Jay or Lizzy around.

He stopped himself before he could think of Zach. Or Zephyr.

The first few times, they were steering clear of him. They would whisper to one another when he passed, sneer and grimace, maybe back away slightly or, if they were feeling brave enough, shout at him. Every single time, Alonzo told himself not to react. Just keep walking.

That worked for a couple of weeks, until the morning when two guys noticed him walking by. He'd seen them around before and never so much as looked at them but this time, he glanced up at exactly the wrong moment and made eye contact with one of them. He turned away again and kept walking, faster now, but the humans were already following behind him.

"Hey!"

_Don't look back._

"_Hey!_ I'm talking to you!"

_Ignore him._

But he couldn't ignore it when he felt a hand grab the back of his hood and yank it down. Al immediately spun round, eyes wide, and staggered back a couple of steps.

"I thought it was you," the one who pulled the hood off nodded, a mocking smile on his face, "You're the 'zombie'?" He did air quotes on 'zombie'. Did he not believe there was a really a zombie there at all?

"Yeah, so what...?" Alonzo's eyes darted from one human to the other.

"Prove it."

"Prove _what_?"

The other guy stepped forward, "That you're _really_ a zombie."

"Why should I?"

The first guy came closer again, tugging Al's sleeve back to reveal his Z-band and he instinctively drew his arm away out of reach.

"What is that?" he ignored Al's protest, "That what _brought you back to life_?" he laughed, his friend joining in, and Al gritted his teeth. They really didn't believe him, "You need to grow up, try living in the real world."

At that point, he just wanted to get rid of them. He rolled up the right sleeve of his hoodie.

"Oh, now you wanna fight?" the second human asked. He wasn't taking this seriously.

Al shook his head, "Nope..." then he gripped his elbow with his left hand and squeezed, digging his nails in. His skin easily ripped apart and the humans' faces fell. He kept pressing and the muscles around the joint gave way, letting him pull his forearm right off. They couldn't take their eyes off his torn flesh, not a drop of blood in sight, and their expressions contorted into looks of sheer horror as they backed up. Pushing down his fears as far as they would go, Alonzo fixed them with a threatening stare and slowly held up his detached arm in front of them, "That real enough for ya?"

The electromagnetic pulses that came from his band may have been cut off when he removed a limb, but the energy they sent through his body would take a few more seconds to be used up, and the last command from the brain before his arm was detached would still be carried out.

As he lifted the arm up to them, his fingers curled into crooked claws, seeming to hungrily reach out to the humans. One of them let out a short yelp of fright and Al inwardly smirked. He quickly snatched his arm back before the hand could fall limp and he'd lose his edge, and popped the joint back in so he could repair the skin again. He would have thought they'd be gone by then, but they weren't. They stood, watching him, disgusted.

"You're a real _zombie_...!" the second one gaped, "Oh, my God, you're a _freak_! How'd they even let you come here?"

"So you actually eat human brains, too, or what?"

Couldn't they just leave him alone? Hadn't he done enough to scare them off yet?

"I _could_..." Al raised his eyebrows and took a single step closer.

The human who had asked the question squinted, "That doesn't mean you _will_..."

Another step. "You wanna take that risk?"

"Hold on," his friend grabbed his arm, "Dude, I don't like the way he's looking at us..."

_Finally...!_

"He's bluffing."

"No, I mean, remember what everybody's been saying about the zombie guy walking around?"

"What?"

_Yeah, what?_

"He's gay, too."

Alonzo closed his eyes and dropped his head, muttering under his breath, "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me..."

There wasn't any point in correcting him. And was that really more of a concern to them? Or of equal concern? The guy who had said it kept talking.

"Even if he doesn't actually wanna eat you, I bet he'd still _eat_ you. Either way, you're screwed."

"Hey, why just _me_? Why not _you_?"

Alonzo rolled his eyes and scoffed, trying not to give away how nervous he was.

"Yeah, stuck-up bigots aren't exactly my type, I think you're safe," he interrupted as casually as he could and started to turn away, "I got more important things to do."

But the second he wasn't looking, he felt a hand clamp around his left wrist and he froze. His Z-band. In an instant, Al had spun back around to face the humans, trying to pull his arm out of the boy's grip. He felt his band shift the slightest bit and had to force himself not to panic. Even if they didn't disable it or damage it in any way, the band would transmit any sort of activity straight to the zombie patrol back in Seabrook. Not wanting to risk his heart beating, Alonzo gritted his teeth and glared at them both.

"Let. Go."

"Or you'll _what_?"

His friend nudged him, although he didn't let go of Al's arm, "Hey. You could probably pull his arm right off yourself."

_Oh, Z, no..._

That could be bad. That could be dangerous. That was the arm with his Z-band on. It did work both ways; the pulses took up to a minute to reach his brain and heart, which meant that arm _could_ be detached as well and he would remain stable for a short amount of time, but something told him these humans wouldn't listen to reason and hand it back over so easily. It would most likely send a signal to the zombie patrol, as well, so even if he did reattach the arm in time, he could potentially end up being forced to return to Seabrook with no hope of leaving again. Alonzo felt the grip on his arm tighten and pull, and he pulled back.

Then both sides were abruptly stopped.

He didn't know when it happened, but another human had appeared seemingly out of nowhere with nothing more than an angry "Hey!" and taken hold of the boy's arm, wrenching it away from Al's Z-band. She then placed a hand firmly on his chest and pushed him back.

"Are you insane?!" the girl shouted, briefly glancing back at Alonzo like she was checking on him or something, making him wonder whether he should feel more or less on edge. He didn't know this girl. The only human girl he had really spoken to here so far was Lizzy. But now _this_ girl, a few inches shorter than Al with pale, but (obviously) not zombie-pale skin and a slight curl to her long, dark hair, was suddenly standing in between him and his attacker. And she was... defending him? "Do you have any idea what you could be doing? Huh? You know what that thing on his wrist is?"

"It's just-"

"So you don't know," she interrupted, "That isn't 'just' anything. You go messing with that band, it could be a life-or-death situation. Why are you even grabbing him like that in the first place?" she didn't give him a chance to respond. The second he opened his mouth, she stopped him, "Don't bother. There isn't a good enough answer to justify it."

"Why do you care?"

She folded her arms and tipped her head towards them condescendingly, "It's called being a decent person. Try it."

Alonzo was stunned. And totally and completely lost. He could hardly even keep up with what was happening in front of him. What did she say about life-or-death...? He hadn't even noticed when she eventually managed to chase them off and he blinked as she turned around to face him. She let out a short huff and shook her head.

"Sorry I just kinda jumped in there but that could have been a disaster."

She seemed a lot calmer now and was even smiling at him but Alonzo's mind was reeling.

"Yeah, it could have been but... _how do you know that_?" he demanded, "I mean, thanks for the help but, like, _what just happened_?"

"Right. Yeah, probably should explain that," she laughed awkwardly, "I watch your band's YouTube, so I've picked up a few things about zombies. I thought I saw you around a couple days ago and waved it off, I didn't think I'd see any zombies here at all, let alone one of the guys from BFZ!" she grinned, gesturing to Al while he tried to take all this in. Then she lightly smacked her head like she just remembered something, "I'm Trisha, by the way."

"... You know my band...?" Was that all he had to say?

"Yeah!" Trisha nodded, "I guess you guys are all busy with college and everything now, the channel's been kinda quiet."

_Are we even a band anymore...?_ Al realised for the first time, but there was a lot going on right now and he wasn't really keeping up. He would have to put the BFZ thing on hold for a little while.

"You OK?"

He blinked, realising he hadn't said anything for a little while, "Uh, yeah, sorry, it's just... I didn't expect to get saved by a fan out of nowhere," he tried to cover it with a joke and it seemed to work – she laughed.

"So you assume I'm your fan?" she smirked, which turned into a grin when he faltered, "I'm kidding. I am kind of a fan, I guess. More a fan of Bowling For Soup themselves, but, whatever. BFZ is pretty awesome. But what was up with those guys back there?"

"Started off wanting me to prove I was really a zombie," Al explained, lifting his hood up again, "And ended with homophobia."

He started walking again, letting her fall into step beside him.

She winced, "Ouch. Two for one... I can't say I know anything about the zombiephobia, but I'm bi, too, so I got that covered. It's gotta suck being the only zombie here, though."

He quirked an eyebrow, "You think?"

"Looks like it," she smiled sympathetically, "And already being out before you even meet anyone here. If they recognise you from YouTube, they know all about you, then that spreads to other people and suddenly they all know your business."

"Yeah. In fact, right now's a little weird, to be honest."

"Sorry."

"Nah, you're good. At least you're not gonna try to rip my arm off."

"What?"

"Long story."

He began to explain and by the time they reached the practice rooms, Al had a feeling he had just made a third friend.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Zach and Roz would come home once or twice a week, see their parents and respective boyfriend and girlfriend, and get together with Zeph for a jam session. It felt almost wrong to keep playing regular gigs without Alonzo there, but none of them wanted to let go of the band. There was, however, one gig they already had booked before Al had left, knowing he wouldn't get to play with them. At the time, they all thought he would be coming back to play with them every now and then but that didn't seem too likely now. Bonzo was joining them on keyboard, as he sometimes had in the past, and that only meant one more person to miss Al.

The zombie mash was right around the corner. The members of BFZ had to get their minds off Al and focus on the performance. But it was there first performance without him.

Zach sighed as he once again ended the call with Alonzo. Or rather, the attempt at calling Alonzo. Why was he even still trying? Almost a whole month had passed since he left, if he wasn't going to listen now, they might as well give up. It certainly looked like Zephyr had – he spent most of his time now moping around and guilt-tripping himself. As his friend, though, Zach felt like helping him reach out to Al again might be worth a shot. If only Al would cooperate.

"Za'ka?" Bonzo stood watching Zach as he tried once more to call Al. He didn't respond, "Za'ka, ja'zon zorog. Zrayn, greh." _You shouldn't worry, Just be patient._

"I can't just wait around when I don't even know if he'll _ever_ talk to me...!"

All Bonzo could do was shrug as he unravelled a cord, "Za, garzedd-zig," _Yeah, I guess_, "Bak, zon ru bragan vi zon." _But it's not your fault if he doesn't._

The elevator door opened and they both lifted their heads to see Roz entering the hall, drumsticks in hand. She recognised the look on Zach's face and stopped.

"You called Al again?" she asked and he nodded, "Any luck?"

"Nope," he stood up, "He won't answer. Ever since I said he should give Zeph another chance, nothing."

"I think it's Zephyr we need to work on. He's the one who broke up with Al, so he's the one who needs to fix it."

"Za," Bonzo nodded in agreement.

Zach let out a short laugh, "That's easier said than done."

Roz raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I'm Zephyr's best friend. You don't know him like I do," she brushed past Zach, idly twirling her drumsticks as she looked around, "Where is he, anyway? I thought he was already here."

"Light garden."

Rolling her eyes, Roz groaned, "Ugh, seriously?" she muttered just loud enough for Zach to hear, "He's such a drama queen sometimes..."

"All I said was he's in the light garden, what's so dramatic about that?"

"I'll walk in there and he's gonna be sitting on the platform, looking all lost and lonely, gazing at the lights and thinking about all the time he's spent making out with Al in there," she explained, "I could drop a cymbal on his head and he wouldn't budge."

Zach gave her a disbelieving look and she just gestured for him to follow her to the garden. Bonzo shrugged when Zach looked at him and turned back to his keyboard, leaving Zach to go after Roz alone. Sure enough, when they reached the light garden, there was Zephyr, exactly as she had described. Roz folded her arms and smugly cocked her head up at Zach, who glanced from her to Zeph.

"... Zephyr?" he called out and got no response. He nodded, satisfied, "Wow. Guess you really do know him better than I do... Well," he firmly patted her shoulder and turned to leave, "Good luck." He went back to setting up while Roz entered the light garden, still grumbling to herself.

"Fine, I'll just take care of it myself...!"

He didn't notice her until she climbed up onto the platform and stood beside him, and even then it took her nudging him with a foot for him to realise he wasn't alone. He jumped and looked up at her.

"Oh. It's just you." He turned back to the lights.

"Just me," Roz sat down, "You coming?"

He checked the time on his band, "Practice doesn't start till seven."

"We never stick to schedules, Zeph, we start when we're all here."

His voice dropped, "We're not _all_ he-"

"Don't even say it," Roz warned, "The pity party's over, you can't just sit around feeling sorry for yourself," she softened at the way he shrunk in on himself, "If you wanna talk about it-"

"I don't."

"You never do. That's your problem. That's always _been_ your problem."

Zephyr gritted his teeth, "So why do you think it's gonna be any different now?" he slowly turned to face her.

"Because this is past having something to lose," she fixed him with an equally hard stare, "You've already lost it. I don't know what to say to you anymore. But right now," she hopped off the platform and looked back at him, "We've got a gig to rehearse for. Zach and I have places to be. We don't have time to waste sitting around thinking about our problems when we could be doing something about them."

He got up with a huff and went after her.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

The zombie mash rolled around and the band were ready to go on. It was strange to see how many of their old friends couldn't make it now, having left Seabrook, but the empty spaces were filled up with humans and the younger zombies who had started high school in the last couple of years. When Zephyr spotted Lindzey across the room he couldn't help feeling a little sad. It used to be that he'd at the very least say hi to her, and even keep an eye on her when Al wasn't around, but he hadn't said a word to her in weeks. Since Al left.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Roz.

"We're on in two minutes. You ready?"

Zephyr looked back at the corner of the dancefloor where Lindzey had been, but she was gone now. He nodded.

"Yeah."

They got through a few songs without a hitch, Zephyr and Zach switching back and forth on lead vocals. _Ride Of A Lifetime_, _1985_, a Zombie version of _No Hablo Ingles_ (_Zon Garzalk Engraz_), Zephyr handled every song he took centre stage for until he had to sing their last song for the night.

"Zach...?" he hissed, leaning towards him.

"What's up?"

He hesitated, his voice dropping to a whisper, and he failed to meet Zach's eyes, "You mind singing this one?"

"Why?"

"It's..." he finally looked at him, "It hits a little too close to home, you know what I'm saying?"

"Zeph, c'mon. It's just a song."

"Please?"

Zach looked back at him for a second or two, chewing the inside of his cheek, "OK, fine. Just this once."

"Thanks."

Roz and Bonzo were confused by the apparent change of plans but they let it go for now as Zephyr played the opening riff, accompanied by Bonzo's chords. Zach, his bass on his back for now, held onto the microphone.

"_Me, I'm a part of your circle of friends. And we notice you don't come around. And me, I think it all depends on you touching ground with us, but..._"

The drums kicked in behind him.

"_I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems. And I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems. And..._"

He glanced at Zeph, who kept his head down, focused on playing, aside from the few backup lines he had to sing.

"_Being alone is the, is the best way to be. When I'm by myself, it's the best way to be. When I'm all alone, it's the best way to be. When I'm by myself, nobody else can say goodbye._"

He could tell why Zephyr didn't want to sing this. He was getting choked up himself. If Zeph had done it, he might have broken down.

"_Everything is temporary anyway. When the streets are wet, the colours slip into the sky. But I don't know why that means you and I are, that means you and I..._"

Zach closed his eyes for a moment, blinking away tears.

"_I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems. And I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else, it seems. And..._ _being alone is the, is the best way to be. When I'm by myself, it's the best way to be. When I'm all alone, it's the best way to be. When I'm by myself, nobody else can say..._"

Roz and Bonzo went quiet again, Zach never taking his eyes off Zephyr playing.

"_Me, I'm a part of your circle of friends. And we notice you don't come around._"

Everything was silent for a moment, then a cheer erupted from the crowd. Very few of them knew the full story of Zephyr and Alonzo's breakup. Sweeping his gaze across every face there, painfully aware that they didn't know the truth, Zeph took a deep breath and removed the strap of his guitar from his shoulder. He was the first to leave the stage.

By the time his friends caught up with him, he was almost at the elevator.

"Zeph, hold on!" Roz called out and he finally turned around as she came to a stop in front of him, "What, you're leaving already?"

"I'm just..." he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Not really in the mood for a party right now. I'll see you tomorrow before you leave, alright?"

"Would you quit acting like such a baby about this?"

"I don't want to be here, Roz. He's supposed to be here. And it just doesn't feel right without him. I'm going home."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Roz followed him. Of course she followed him. He was her best friend, he was upset and he needed someone. Even if he said he didn't.

Rizzo was still at the zombie mash – Zach would tell her that her brother had left early and probably needed some space. Zynthia and Zeus wouldn't be home for a little while longer, but she knew where they hid a spare key.

When she stepped inside, she immediately heard music coming from upstairs and went straight to Zeph's room, finding him lying on his bed with a pillow in his arms, his eyes on the ceiling. He barely reacted when she entered. She didn't recognise the song right away. It wasn't exactly something she, or Zephyr, for that matter, listened to often.

"_But now I'll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes, all that I know is I don't know how to be something you miss..._"

Roz stared for a moment. Zephyr refused to look at her.

"_Never thought we'd have a last kiss. Never imagined we'd end like this..._"

"...Are you listening to Taylor Swift?"

"_Your name, forever the name on my lips..._"

Zephyr just scowled and hugged the pillow to his chest, "Don't you judge me."

"I didn't even know you liked Taylor Swift," she muttered, confused. He was only a few months away from his twentieth birthday and here he was, in bed, hugging a pillow and listening to _Taylor Swift_ like a lovesick teenaged girl.

Zephyr kept staring into space, "I don't but it's like she knows me better than I know myself..." he whispered.

"_I do remember the swing in your step, the life of the party, you're showing off again..._"

"... Zephyr, are you OK?"

"_And I roll my eyes and then you pull me in. I'm not much for dancing, but for you I did..._"

He finally sat up and looked at her, or more like glared, "I haven't been OK in weeks."

Roz blanked, "Dude, you sound like Zach."

"You sound like my sister," Zeph fell back onto the mattress and rolled over to face the wall as Taylor sang on.

Roz sighed – she hated seeing him like this. Neither of them said, or did, anything for a few seconds, then Roz slowly walked over to sit on the bed so they had their backs to each other.

"Have you tried calling him?"

"... No..."

"Why not?"

Zephyr curled in on himself a little more, "You know he's not gonna answer."

"He might."

"He _hates_ me," she could hear the pain in his tone, and the guilt.

"How do you know?"

"Why wouldn't he?" he propped himself up on one arm and turned his head towards her. Roz looked down at him. Both of their expressions were tired and worn, "I hurt him. And he left. He hasn't said a word to me since then."

"That's not his job, Zephyr!" Roz told him, irritated, "It was your job to take back what you said to him and apologise. You never gave him a reason to come back to you."

He didn't say anything, which meant he knew she was right. Roz stood up.

"If you're not gonna even try to get him back, then the only other option is to move on," she said softly.

She waited for a brief moment, just in case he had something to say, but he didn't. So with that, Roz said goodbye and left him alone. He turned the music up and unlocked his Z-band's display.

"_So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep..._"

He lay still, staring at the screen as he swiped through photo after photo of himself with Alonzo; making faces and playing guitar and annoying Rizzo, Al's blissful expression as he cuddled Zipper, the two of them kissing and holding each other and just... being _them_...

"_And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe, and I'll keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are... Hope it's nice where you are..._"

He closed the app and took a breath, dropping his arms above his head and staring up at the ceiling.

_Should I call him...?_

He held up his arm again but his hand froze over the band's screen.

"_And I hope the sun shines, and it's a beautiful day, and something reminds you. You wish you had stayed. You can plan for a change in weather and time, but I never planned on you changing your mind..._"

He knew it was no use. He knew he wasn't even going to pick up. Because he knew Alonzo better than anyone.

And if he could help it, Alonzo didn't let anything, or anyone, who had hurt him get near to him ever again.

"_So I'll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes, all that I know is I don't know how to be something you miss. Never thought we'd have a last kiss, never imagined we'd end like this._ _Your name, forever the name on my lips..._ _Just like our last kiss... Forever the name on my lips... Forever the name on my lips... Just like our last..._"

And he deserved so much better.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

In Zephyr's eyes, he was giving Alonzo some space, not forcing himself onto him, making sure he didn't hurt or upset him anymore. In Zach's eyes, however, he was just showing Al that he really _didn't_ care about him. It was all he could do to keep calling Al; if neither of them were going to make the first move to repair the relationship, Zach would do it himself. He knew deep down that this could be fixed, but throughout the entire month he'd been gone, Al had never picked up once. Zephyr was losing hope fast, but Zach wouldn't be discouraged. He would keep trying.

He was completely dumbfounded when Alonzo actually answered after all those failed attempts, sounding unexpectedly calm.

"Hey, man, it's been a while."


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. Don't Tell Me is an original song by me.

Things are progressing...! Next chapter is gonna be a pretty big one, btw. Also the song Don't Tell Me, I wrote the lyrics in random intervals over the full time I was in high school. I still haven't written music for it, though. But It's the first song I ever finished writing in terms of lyrics. And it's probably my favourite of any song I've ever written

**Chapter 5 theme songs: **Shit To Do by Bowling For Soup, Sucks To Be You by Emma Blackery and Spotlight from Everybody's Talking About Jamie

* * *

~ You go and tell my friends that you want to make amends, but I don't have time for that, so I guess that it sucks to be you ~

Chapter 5

It took a moment for Zach to process that, yes, Alonzo had, in fact, picked up.

"Al?"

"What's up?"

_... What the hell?_

"_What's up?_" Zach echoed in disbelief, "I've been calling you every chance I get ever since you hung up on me that time and you never picked up before. What's up with _you_?"

Al was silent for a few seconds and Zach could imagine him dropping his head as he sighed, "Right, that," he muttered, "I dunno, I got over it, I guess."

That didn't sound too good. Zach sat back in his chair, "Like... you got over... Zephyr...?"

"Yeah," it was surreal to hear him say it, especially so casually, "I got over Zephyr," but then Zach could just _sense_ the eyeroll, "Why, are you gonna keep trying to make excuses for him? You still believe him?"

"Al, it's not an excuse, I swear on my grave," although Al couldn't see it, Zach placed a hand over his heart, "He's still beating himself up over this. Roz walked in on him listening to _Taylor Swift_. Like, _old_ Taylor Swift."

"If that's why you called, I'm hanging up," Al deadpanned and Zach sat up, holding out his hand as if he was actually there to stop him.

"No! That's not the _only_ reason why I called. I've been worried about you. My best friend goes off to college right after a bad breakup and completely cuts me off? I'm gonna want some answers!"

"You took his side, Zach!"

Did this really have to be about taking sides? And even if it was, he wouldn't really consider himself to be on Zephyr's side. Or Alonzo's side. He was on his own side. He supposed it wasn't worth starting another argument over the small things, though, so he went along with it.

"If you'd listen, maybe you would too!"

"I'm hanging up."

"Alonzo-" but the line had already gone dead. Zach growled in frustration and called him back. No answer. He tried again, still nothing. _We're talking about this, dammit...!_ He wasn't going to give in. When Al finally picked up again, he sounded angry, and close to tears. Zach was stunned. In all the years he had known Al, he had only ever heard him get this mad if his dad had said something to him, or to his mom.

"What do you want from me?!" he almost shouted, "I thought maybe after all this time, you'd have dropped the whole Zephyr thing and you'd just want to catch up, maybe you just _missed_ me, but no, it's all about him!"

Now he felt bad. No matter what, he still saw Alonzo as his best friend, and he never wanted to hurt him like that. He instantly softened.

"Of course I miss you, Al! And I _care_ about you. I don't want you to go on thinking he hates you or something."

Before he continued, he had to think for a moment. Alonzo was his best friend, but Zephyr was his friend, too. And he knew they'd had something special together. Something that he himself had always been jealous of until Diaz came along. Long before Zephyr had even worked up the courage to confess his feelings to Alonzo, Zach could see clear as day how much the two loved each other. Roz saw it, too. And Rizzo. And practically everyone who knew them. That was why Zach had been so mad at Zephyr for breaking up with Al until he heard his side of the story; not only had he broken his best friend's heart, he had given up the very thing that Zach would've killed for. On the other side of the line, he could hear Al gulp as he tried to keep from crying. He took a breath before speaking again, keeping his voice level.

"Trust me, as soon as you told me what happened, I was ready to tear him apart but he admitted he made a mistake. He didn't mean any of it."

And now, Alonzo _was_ crying.

"Then why did he say it? Why'd he risk it if he really didn't want to lose me?"

"Because he's an idiot who still has no idea how to deal with his feelings," Zach gently reminded him, "The only reason he's not trying to contact you himself is 'cause he thinks he doesn't deserve you anymore."

"Yeah, well, he's right. He doesn't."

Alonzo, sitting on his bed, pulled his sleeve over his hand to wipe away his tears, giving himself a second or two to calm down, and Zach waited patiently for him to keep talking.

More than a month had passed since he last saw Zephyr and he was beginning to think, to _hope_, that he had let him go, left him in the past. He had new friends now; it didn't take long for Trisha to meet Jay and Lizzy and for them to find their own dynamic. They fit well together, four music students – Alonzo in performance for guitar, Trisha in performance for voice, Jay in composition and Lizzy in production. It wasn't that he was trying to replace his old friends, but it sort of happened that way. With things the way they were, he thought he might be able to forget about his heartbreak.

Clearly, he was wrong.

"I haven't cried over him in ages. I thought I was actually moving on with my life, why'd you have to remind me?"

"You need to hear this."

"I've heard it already. And I can't believe you're falling for it," Al scowled down at his Z-band.

"You haven't seen what this is doing to him! He's a wreck," Zach told him and he just sniffed.

"Good."

"Al, he seriously didn't mean any of it. He was scared. He-"

Al interrupted him, "If he was so scared of losing me, he would've tried to make it work. He would've put in some effort."

"He didn't think you guys could work as a long distance thing! He thought you'd break up anyway if you tried. You two were probably the most physical couple I have ever seen in my life," Zach pointed out, "Do you honestly think either of you could handle a relationship where you _couldn't_ touch each other?"

Alonzo honestly didn't know what to say to that. Because it actually made sense. He wished it didn't, but it did. That didn't mean he'd forgive Zephyr, and it definitely didn't mean he was going to go running back to him, but... it made sense. Zephyr always had been terrible at dealing with his feelings. He was exactly the sort of person who would make that assumption.

All he could do was mumble, "It's such a stupid reason..."

"Is it?"

Al scoffed. None of this mattered now. He was done with Zephyr. He was moving on.

"Zach, I'm over him. I'm still mad but I..." he trailed off, then restarted, "I don't want him back. I don't love him anymore. I've been living a totally Zephyr Styx-free life and I've been getting by just fine. You had to go and bring all this back. Why are you making me feel so guilty over this? I'm not the one who ended a perfectly good relationship on an impulse just because I panicked."

"... OK... OK, you've got a point but can you just... accept that he regrets it? Look, on his behalf, I will apologise to you, 'cause I know he wants to. Will you at least accept that?"

... Zephyr _would_ be sorry. He knew that much. He needed to sit back and actually think about it, but now that he was thinking, he realised it was true. Despite that, he had made up his mind.

"... Alright. But that's it. I don't want anything to do with him after this."

"That's fair."

That seemed like the end of the conversation but something else came to mind and Alonzo had to ask Zach one question.

"Are you guys still playing? As BFZ?"

"Kinda, yeah...? You OK with that?"

"I guess. Are you still making videos?"

Trisha hadn't known about the breakup. Alonzo had steered clear of talking about it, unsure how to bring it up naturally, and clamming up anytime she mentioned Zephyr's name in passing. When it seemed like Jay was going to say something about Al's ex-boyfriend, he would quickly change the subject. But she would have to find out sooner or later.

"Not really. Zephyr didn't want to talk about what happened so I just posted something to say we were taking a break for now and he still hasn't said anything."

Al nodded to himself, working out a plan, "Password and everything still the same?"

"Uh... why?"

"I can do it. Explain everything from my end and say goodbye and all that," he knew for sure now the channel had actual viewers. He'd met some of them. And they deserved to know what happened, if only the basic details, "So, have you changed the password or what?"

"No. Go for it."

Al finally smiled, "Change it once I've uploaded. I might not be able to trust myself with that power.

He heard Zach's light chuckle from the other end, "Alright."

So, that was one relationship fixed. The one he felt _could_ be fixed.

Mere seconds after he hung up, there was a knock on his door and he called out a simple, "Yeah?"

The door opened and Jay stepped halfway inside, looking curious.

"Were you just talking to somebody...?"

"Yeah. Zach."

There'd been a few times when Zach had called and Jay had seen the name on Al's Z-band. He'd asked him why he always ignored it. Al only told him it was an old friend who he had fallen out with over his breakup, and that he wasn't ready to talk to him again yet.

Jay nodded once then actually took a good look at Al and frowned, "Have you been crying?"

There wasn't a point in hiding it, "A little. It's no big deal..."

"Finally talking about your ex?"

"You got it," Al muttered, pointing at him with one hand while the other combed through his hair, then he sat up fully, "I dunno what I'm supposed to do."

Jay shrugged, "Why not come out with us tonight? Forget about him and just have a good time. You never know, you might even find someone to go home with," he smiled, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Not interested," Al gave him a blank look, "Besides, I'm not playing third-wheel for you and your boyfriend."

Al had met him, briefly, once or twice. He seemed cool, but something about seeing a happy couple like them made Al kind of uncomfortable these days.

"You won't be, the girls are coming too."

Al frowned, "When'd you decide that?"

"Just now. Liz called Trish on the way back from class. I was coming in here to ask you if you wanted to go."

"I'm good. I've got things to do, anyway."

"Like what?"

"Practice," Al said vaguely, "And I need to make a video for something..."

"A video?" Jay knew about BFZ's channel, and had watched a couple of vlogs and music videos out of curiosity, but he didn't expect Alonzo would still have anything to do with that, "For what?"

"It's like... a final goodbye, I guess. Zach said they're kinda on hiatus 'cause _somebody_ doesn't wanna admit that he screwed up. So nobody knows I left the band, or even left Seabrook. They need an update."

"Well, the offer's there. If you change your mind..."

"I won't."

"You can always come later and we'll meet you somewhere."

"_I won't_," Al had to smile at Jay's attempt to encourage him, "You guys go, I can get some time to myself."

"Well, if you wanted to get rid of me you could have said so."

"Dude."

"We're not leaving for a couple hours, you have plenty of ti-"

By now, Alonzo was pushing him out and closing the door in his face, both of them struggling not to laugh, "Bye, Jay...!"

He stood there for a moment, smiling to himself. He really didn't want to go out. He so rarely did these days. Jay was looking out for him, but he knew when to take a step back and give him some space. He joked, but he wouldn't push him.

And he could always use some time alone to practice.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"Zach?"

He lifted his head at Zephyr's voice, trying to hide that there could be anything wrong, "Yeah?"

"You talked to him?"

"... Yeah..." he nodded vaguely.

"You explained everything to him, right?"

"... Yeah. He finally listened."

That probably wasn't the best thing to say, because now it looked like Zeph was getting his hopes up. He did still look nervous, though, his fingers rubbing subconsciously around his Z-band.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he accepted the apology."

He saw right through it, "... But...?"

"Zephyr..."

"What did he say, Zach?"

Zach gave up and looked him in the eye, "He said he doesn't want anything to do with you anymore."

Zephyr was silent for a moment.

"... Oh."

"I'm sorry, Zeph."

"It's not your fault," he brushed off the hand Zach reached out to him, "I knew it was coming."

"It's gotta hurt to actually hear it, though."

"At least I'm not hearing it from _him_," he stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall.

"So, what are you gonna do?"

He shrugged, "What _can_ I do?"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

He could get the video out of the way now. Jay had his headphones on and was busy at his keyboard. If he didn't know Al had already filmed it, there was still an excuse not to go out.

He had left the camera he usually used for vlogging with Zach, but his Z-band would be good enough for one little goodbye video. He was sitting at his desk, resting his elbows on the surface, looking down at the screen.

"Hey, humans of the world. And zombies, now, too, I guess, since we've finally busted out of Seabrook. This video is just to explain what's going on and why BFZ kinda disappeared, 'cause apparently _he_ isn't gonna talk about it. The gist of it is... we broke up. Not the band, exactly, but... me and Zephyr. That's gonna shock a lot of people, I know, but it is what it is. Long story short, I'm in college now, outside of Seabrook, and I guess a long-distance relationship wasn't gonna be an option. I've gotten used to it. I dunno about him, though, but that's his business. And I've pretty much quit the band. I mean, I started the band but now I'm here studying music and living my life, and the other three are still sorta together close to Seabrook. So, if they want to keep BFZ alive, that's fine by me. I'm gonna miss it but I gotta go after my dreams, right?" he gave the camera one last smile, "The others'll be back soon. Probably. I'm handing everything over to them now. See ya around."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Soon after the video was uploaded, the girls were knocking on the door and Jay called out to Al to let them in. When he did, he noticed Trisha was giving him a strange look, her fingers gripping her phone, and he wondered if there was something wrong. She quickly hid whatever was bothering her behind a smile as she stepped inside and for the moment, Al forgot about it.

"You're not coming?" she asked, just to confirm. She already knew he wasn't.

"Nah," he shook his head, "Not really feeling it tonight."

"Same as last time?"

"You know me so well already."

Jay appeared and they were about to leave, then he realised he'd forgotten something and headed back to his room with Lizzy following him as they talked. Al started to say goodbye to Trisha and was also going back to his own room when she said his name. The hesitance in her voice made him stop.

Trisha bit her lip, looking slightly unsure about something. She quickly glanced back, probably making sure Jay was still gone, along with Lizzy, then took a step closer to Al and lowered her voice, "Can we talk for a minute?" He just squinted. What could there be to talk about that Jay couldn't hear?

"OK...?" he was instantly pushed into his own room, Trish following close behind as she closed the door.

"I know you don't talk to Jay a whole lot about this," she sighed as she turned to face him. She looked strangely apologetic. For what, though, Al had no idea.

"Talk about what?"

Trisha seemed to hesitate, her eyes flitting around as she tried to figure out what to say. Eventually, she sighed, cocked her head and quietly asked, "Why didn't you tell me about the breakup?"

The second the words left her mouth, Al dropped his gaze to the floor, then to the wall, then up into the air. Gaz, was this uncomfortable... He took a breath and puffed it out again, then finally met her eyes.

"You saw the video already?" _Way to avoid the subject, there, Al._

With a sad smile, Trish held up her phone, "Got the notification on the way here. I guess this explains why you never wanted to talk about him. But," she leaned back against his desk, folded her arms and shrugged, "Y'know, I thought we were at least good enough friends for you to tell me that."

Al closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, "We _are_, Trish, I just... I didn't wanna talk about it. There's been a whole thing," he rolled his eyes thinking about it, "Zach's been calling me non-stop trying to tell me Zephyr's sorry. I accepted the apology but honestly, I just wanted him to shut up about it..."

"What made you do it? You said in the video it was 'cause you guys couldn't do long-distance, so what's he got to be sorry for? Why'd you break up with him?"

"I didn't," Al started and Trisha frowned, confused, "_He_ broke up with _me_. Because apparently, me leaving Seabrook meant I didn't care enough about him."

Trisha's jaw fell open in shock, "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. That's pretty much what he said. The night before I left. At his house," he let out a long sigh then, slowly, added, "When we had planned on spending that last night together."

For a second, Trisha could do nothing but gape at him, "Oh, my God...!"

"I know."

"Al..."

"Trish, you don't have to say anything. It happened. It's done. And it's been, like, over a month now."

"Still...!" she said, her eyes wide, "I never would have thought he'd say something like that. And I'm only judging from the videos, but he always seemed _so_ into you."

"Trish!"

"Sorry," she cringed, "I'm not helping, am I?" before Al could say another word, though, she suddenly lit up, "You totally _should_ come with us tonight!"

"... Weren't we talking about Zephyr?"

Trisha rolled her eyes, like this should be obvious, "Listen, I'm pretty sure we're going to this gay bar Liz was talking about. And I have usually found that it takes a guy to get over a guy."

Al dropped his head, "Seriously, Trish? It's not happening," he looked up at her again, slightly irritated, "I'm not going."

"No guy? Fine," she shrugged and smirked, "Maybe it takes a girl for you. Either way, y-"

"It doesn't take _anybody_," Al stressed, "To get over a person who you're already over." He had completely missed the odd tone in her voice.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive. I haven't been single since I started high school. I figure I should just enjoy it. No guys, no girls, nobody but me."

Before Trish could respond, Jay and Lizzy were back and Al had turned away with a quick two-fingered salute.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"Does Al ever seem kinda... off to you guys?" Trisha asked, catching the others off guard. They shared a confused look.

"What do you mean?" Lizzy frowned.

"I dunno, I just get the feeling something's not right," she answered vaguely, "Like... Jay," she turned to him, "You _live_ with him. Haven't you ever noticed him acting weird?"

Jay thought for a moment, then shrugged, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

But Jay didn't know what Alonzo's 'ordinary' was. He might have met him before Trisha did, but she had known who he was long before that. She at least knew something about who he was before. And there was definitely a difference. Then again, was that any of her business? It was his life, anyway, she shouldn't be sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

He may have gotten the video out of the way, but he did really need to practice, and as much as Jay could be helpful to have around to listen and critique him, Alonzo also appreciated time to play his guitar by himself. Someone else being there reminded him of the times Zephyr would listen to him play.

But as time wore on, he got sick of running through the assigned pieces. The only other songs he knew, though, were all by Bowling For Soup. Even if they were his favourite band, practically every song had some kind of memory attached to it. He strummed idly for a little while then his Z-band beeped with a text from Jay; they were moving on to some party that a friend of his boyfriend was hosting.

More time to himself.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Something caught Trisha's eye as they headed for the door. On a table nearby was a stack of flyers and the words 'winter music festival' seemed to jump out at her. She picked one up out of curiosity and scanned over it. A local music festival, for local acts. Folding it in two, she stuffed it into her pocket.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

He looked around himself at the dorm. Sure, he had a few things from home, a photo or two, but beyond that, this was the centre of his new life. It probably looked pretty standard to any human, but to a zombie, this was an achievement all on its own. People could say what they wanted, and Zephyr could cling to the past, but Alonzo knew he could do so much more than anyone ever expected from a zombie.

His fingers picked at random strings until he found a melody he liked.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Alonzo stopped at the sound of the door opening and he walked out of his room just in time to see Jay crash onto the beat-up old couch, the girls laughing as he did. He rolled over onto his back with a groan but laughed with them and Al found it hard not to join in.

"Hey!" Trisha greeted when she saw him, "We thought you'd be asleep. Or did we wake you up?" then she noticed the guitar in his hand, "Still practicing?"

"Not exactly," Al smirked, "I wanna run something by you," he gestured to Jay, "Or are you too drunk?"

"_He_ might be, but we're good," Lizzy said as she kicked Jay's feet onto the floor to make some space and sat down, "What have you got?"

"I've... kinda been working on something."

"Wait," Trisha sat up, "You mean, like, an original...?"

Alonzo, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy, bit his lip and nodded. It didn't take much, or any, convincing for them to insist on hearing it. He sat down, positioned his guitar in his lap and found the first chord.

"_Don't tell me I, I'm not worth it, 'cause you don't know a thing about me. And don't tell me I don't deserve it, I don't care what you want from me. So don't tell me you're sorry, 'cause I don't wanna hear it at all. And I don't need to know what you think, I'm not gonna fall for that, no..._"

He kept his head down as he played, a little too self-conscious to want to see how his friends were reacting.

"_You've got all these expectations, you don't want me better or worse. But you don't control my ambition, what I think of myself still comes first..._"

His voice naturally grew stronger as he got more and more into it.

"_So don't tell me you love me, because I won't believe you at all. I know you don't care about me, I'm not gonna fall for that, no..._"

He was smiling now, firing off riffs for a few bars then coming back to the last verse, sounding bolder than ever. Underneath it, though, there was a bitterness to his voice.

"_So don't you even try to convince me, don't try to tell me what's what. This ain't something I can just forgive, and did you really think I forgot? So don't tell me you know me, 'cause clearly you don't me at all._"

He wasn't expecting the praise he got. After such a powerful performance, he suddenly fell quiet and shy. Just to change the subject, he checked his band and felt the need to point out how late it was. Lizzy nodded and nudged Jay, telling him to get up. He refused, saying he could just sleep there, and Al held back his laughter as their bickering commenced. He stood up, said a quick goodbye to Trish and turned away.

Glancing back at Jay and Lizzy, who clearly weren't paying attention anymore, Trisha walked over to Al and touched his arm. He turned around to face her again and was met with an eager and encouraging smile.

He smiled back at her, only less eager and more confused, one brow raised in question, "What?"

"That song."

"What about it?"

"It was _good_!"

"You already said that."

"I know, but-"

"Do you want something from me?" Al jokingly narrowed his eyes and Trisha laughed, lightly smacking his arm.

"I'm serious!"

"Or drunk."

"Only a little. But I _am_ totally serious. Maybe you should have chosen composition, too."

Al shook his head, turning away again and heading towards his bedroom, "I dunno about that, Trish. It's just...," he shrugged, "Not for me."

She laughed in disbelief and followed him, "What are you talking about?" she stopped and leaned against the doorframe as he put his guitar down, "OK, so you aren't actually gonna go and change your major or anything but you have to admit, you're good."

Al walked back over to her and leaned against the door, copying her stance – arms folded, head cocked, "Maybe I am but..." he trailed off as he looked away at their friends, laughing over something, and he lowered his voice, "Do you really think people would want to listen to something written by a zombie?"

Her face fell and she straightened up, taking a step closer, "We do," she reminded him, gesturing briefly behind her at Jay and Lizzy.

"You're my friends."

"Yeah," Trisha nodded, "And _as_ your friend, I'm telling you," she prodded his chest with one finger and he fake-scowled, "You're good at this."

Alonzo stood looking down at her for a second or two then sighed, "Trish, you know what happened when we first met. You know I have to hide my hair and my Z-band just walking around campus. You watched all those videos where we talked about zombiephobia and segregation and everything that happened back in Seabrook. Other humans aren't like you guys."

There was a sudden shift in his demeanour. His eyes were on the floor and he shoved his hands into his pockets, and Trish immediately wished she could do something about it. She tried. She defended him whenever she was around to witness it, just like she had a month ago. But nothing she could do was going to change the way those people treated him. Right now, all she had was words.

"They've got to learn sooner or later," she stated firmly, looking him right in the eye, "You're a zombie. You're proud of that. And you've got a lot to say."

Alonzo was quiet for a moment as he considered this.

"... They don't want to hear it," he said eventually, shaking his head again. He turned and walked back into his room.

"You don't know that!" Trisha followed him but he ignored her. She stood chewing on her lip until she remembered the flyer in her pocket. She took it out, glancing up at Al, who had his back to her, in thought. She moved a little closer, "You can _make_ them listen. All you have to do is get their attention. That's what you _do_," she put a hand on his shoulder and made him turn to face her, holding out the flyer to him, "You just need the right kind of attention."

Taking it from her, Al gave her a cautious look then read over it, "...You're saying I should sign up for this thing?"

Trisha nodded, "Yes. You should," then she grinned and gently shoved him, "Come on, I've seen you perform in videos, give me a chance to see you perform live!" she placed a hand on her heart and gave an exaggerated pout, "Don't you care about your fans?"

He cracked a smile, "You watch me play all the time!"

"I wanna see you in front of an audience! I wanna be _in_ that audience. Bragging to everybody around me how that's my best friend up on that stage."

_Best friend..._ Those words didn't seem to sit right with him anymore. But hey, third time's the charm...

"... I don't know," Alonzo looked down at the flyer again then dropped it on his desk, "I mean, I've played covers, I've played songs I got assigned for class, I've never played my own songs in front of people. I've never even written my own sings before tonight."

"This is the next step. And you've got plenty of time to work on more, you did get one work of genius done in a single night!" she couldn't help giggling and Al rolled his eyes, though he had to smile at the compliment, "Just go for it."

He stared at her for a minute, "... I'll think about it..."

"You should."

"_If_... you go on with me."

It took her a second to process what he just said. She was surprised to say the least, "Seriously?" she asked and he nodded, "You want me to sing your songs?"

"Yeah. You could just sing backup if you want but..." he trailed off and looked away, "I've only ever played onstage with a band. I don't think I could do it on my own."

Folding her arms and leaning back against the wall, Trisha laughed, "Honestly, I think you could. But I'm not gonna turn down a request to sing, so..." she straightened up again, "Sure. Let's do it."


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. Off My Mind, What Can I Say? and Nothing On Me are all original songs by me.

Time for some drama...!

**Chapter 6 theme songs: **Since We Broke Up by Bowling For Soup, If You Come Back To Me by Bowling For Soup, So Much Better from Legally Blonde the Musical and If You Knew from LIZZIE the Musical

* * *

~ You might look up to find I've gone on to better things ~

Chapter 6

There were songs he didn't show to anyone. Not even to Trisha, or Jay. And he didn't tell Zach about them, either. The two were thankfully on speaking terms again, and made sure to call each other to catch up at least every week, but Alonzo wanted to keep some things just to his college life; things like songwriting. So when he mentioned the music festival to him, he let him assume he'd be playing covers like he always had, or at least someone else's songs.

He knew exactly what Zach would say if he found out he was writing his own songs.

The secret ones were too personal. They were a way to vent and get everything out of his mind and into the real world so he could let it all go. He did, however, still play Bowling For Soup songs a lot. He wasn't going to let go of that. In fact, it was often when he was in the middle of a song that Trisha would show up to rehearse. Jay always let her in since Alonzo could barely hear anything over his own guitar and voice and she would wait a moment to watch him before she finally made her presence known. He would always jokingly accuse her of spying. There was an audition for the music festival and all their time was pretty much split between class, practicing for class and practicing for the audition.

Today, they had decided to take a break from getting ready for the audition and they were both in their respective dorms running through assignments.

E minor... C... G... D...

Al paused, his brow creased. That chord progression sounded familiar; he knew another song that began the same way. It took him a second to recall what it was, and when he did, a bittersweet satisfaction washed over him and he smiled somewhat sarcastically to himself. He tossed the book aside and lay back on his bed, half propped up against the wall, quickly finding the first chord again.

Screw practice.

"_I finally boxed up all the pictures of you and all the memories that you left behind..._"

It was like he could hear the drumbeat kicking in and he tipped his head back. Then, in time with the rhythm in his head, he strummed.

"_Since we broke up, I've been stayin' out late and hanging with all my friends! Since we broke up, no more Oprah on the TV, only ESPN!_" he stood up, really getting into it now and even bouncing around the room as he sang. He didn't pay attention when he heard a knock from down the hall and Jay letting someone in, or even the footsteps coming towards his room, "_And now I can sleep till three, since we broke up!_"

When he imagined the backup vocals, for the first time, it wasn't Roz, Zach and Zephyr's voices he heard. This time, it was Jay, Lizzy and Trisha. And speak of the devil, when he turned around, there was Trish leaning against the open door, covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Wow," she shook her head and dropped her hand, "You are so deep in denial."

Al, startled, had jumped when he saw her, "Trish, where'd y-" he suddenly frowned, "Wait, what do you mean 'in denial'?"

Trisha shot him a knowing look, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow, "You seriously think you're over Zephyr?" That only made him roll his eyes and start to turn away.

"I _am_ over Zephyr."

"You're singing about him."

Al shrugged, looking like he'd been found out, "It's a breakup song," then he caught himself and faced her again, suddenly defensive, "And who said I was singing about _him_? Maybe I just felt like playing that song!"

Trish didn't believe him for a second.

"Alonzo. You are not over Zephyr."

Now he smiled, swinging around again and bringing his fingers back to a G chord, "I am _so_ over him!" he strummed loud and clear on 'so' and Trisha laughed at his slightly awkward 'rock star' pose. Ignoring Jay's banging on the wall to tell him to quiet down, Alonzo laughed with her and went back to his impromptu performance, "_Since we broke up, I've been throwin' lots of heat, and all the girls are checking me out!_"

He slid towards her with a fake flirty smile and that only made her laugh even harder, "Oh, is that what they're doing?"

Al winked at her, grinning, "I'm breaking hearts, Trish."

"None more than mine!" she said, playing along, her hands clasped over her chest. Still laughing, Alonzo set the guitar down.

"What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, right, could I maybe borrow the demo CD for _Don't Tell Me_...?"

"Seriously?" Al groaned and his shoulders slumped. Didn't she have it down by now?

"Please?" she asked, giving him puppy-dog eyes, "Only for, like, a week?," he just blinked. This never worked on him, "Come on...! You have to make up for breaking my heart somehow!"

He caved, smiling affectionately at her, "Fine. But first, I gotta find it. I think I left it in Jay's room after we recorded it, just a sec."

"Sure."

He left the room.

With him gone, Trish glanced around, checked that Al was definitely going to be at least a minute or two, then slowly began to investigate. On his desk was a notebook labelled 'Songs' and she paused. She cast another quick look at the door, but she could hear Al rummaging through things and talking to Jay in the next room. Her curiosity got the better of her and she quietly flipped the book open. The first few were ones she'd already heard, then a couple he had mentioned to her, maybe sung a few lines or a verse, but then she stopped. She had come to an untitled song, with so many crossed-out and rewritten words, even whole verses completely unreadable behind scribbled lines, but still enough left to see.

_I thought I'd let you go  
__I thought I could leave it all behind  
__But I should've known you'd left your mark  
__Why can't I get you off my mind?_

She frowned, suddenly feeling sad for Alonzo. She turned the page until she came to another one written with the same signs of difficulty. Or just... hard to process emotions.

_What do you think?  
_'_Cause I gotta know  
__Is it all true?  
__Is it all just for show?  
__Do you even know?  
__Do you have a clue?  
__What this is like?  
__What I'm going through?_

Trisha bit the inside of her cheek, sighed and shook her head, "You're an open book, Al..."

Before she could keep reading, she heard a door close and Al's voice calling out "Got it!"

Trisha closed the book and put it down, making sure to leave it right where she found it, and walked over to meet Alonzo at the door. He held out the CD to her but when she went to take it, he lifted it just out of reached and pointed at her, "One week."

Rolling her eyes, Trisha nodded, "One week. Promise," she smiled and he handed it over. Her smile turned to a grin as she put it into her bag and went to leave, "Thanks, Al, you're a lifesaver."

He cocked his head, grinning back at her, "_And_ a heartbreaker."

"And a heartbreaker. I'll see you later."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Zephyr had no idea where to go from here. He had known all along that Alonzo would move on. He had known he didn't want to talk to him. But there was always that tiny, little voice somewhere in the back of his mind telling him that if he was just patient enough, and didn't push him, Al would eventually give him another chance. It was stupid to think like that, though. Alonzo had his own life, and now it was a life without Zephyr, and that meant Zephyr would just have to get used to a life without Alonzo. What else could he do?

There was even less of a chance now that Al would answer if he called him, and he would have to get licensed in order to leave Seabrook to go and find Al himself. What would the zombie patrol say to that? Chasing your one true love wouldn't exactly fly on the application. Without a good enough reason, he wasn't going anywhere.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

The audition had come and gone. There hadn't been any problems, no forgetting lyrics or chord progressions, no faulty tech, no timing errors, nothing. Trisha was gushing about how well they did the second they left and it was all Alonzo could do to smile along with her despite the pit in his stomach. He still didn't feel all that confident that they would let a zombie perform.

He didn't feel much like himself. It was usually him who kept upbeat and confident that things would work out, but sometimes he wondered if he could have left all his positivity behind in Seabrook. He felt so fake now when he was laughing and joking with his friends; he found himself becoming more sarcastic and cynical. It wasn't especially obvious, but he knew he had changed.

All of this was relayed to Zach once he was back in the dorm that night, though he left out a few details, specifically how different he was acting lately.

"Look, Al, if you're good enough to be going to college there, you're good enough to perform at a music festival," Zach assured him, but he wasn't entirely convinced, "If they say no to you, that's purely down to discrimination."

"That doesn't help."

"At least it won't be because they think you don't have any talent."

"Still not helping, Zach," Al quipped, "What are you trying to say, that I'm definitely not getting in?" He wasn't serious. Not completely.

"I'm saying if you _don't_," there was a smile in Zach's voice, "Then they're making a big mistake."

Al rolled onto his back on the couch, his hands on either side of his head so his Z-band was right by his mouth, "It's just..." he sighed, "... Kind of intimidating..."

"Wow, big word for you. A true college man."

"Shut up," Al rolled his eyes affectionately, "I mean, there's all these humans who actually know what they're doing. They didn't have to wait for new music like we did, they started out on real instruments instead of, like, handmade and half-broken junk. And I've been hearing about other acts. There's even groups coming from out of town."

"I thought you said it was local?"

"They were looking for more local acts, but they're accepting video auditions from people, like, a couple towns over or whatever. There's a lot of competition to get in."

Zach thought for a moment, "You know, maybe being a zombie could give you an edge, then. You're unique."

"Oh, sure, 'come and see the singing corpse'...! I don't want people staring at me like some freak show."

"Not what I'm saying, I wouldn't want that either. What I mean is, you've got a whole other style and background that the humans don't."

"I guess..."

"Al," he said sternly, "You're gonna make it."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

He had made every excuse not to contact Alonzo; he didn't deserve him back (somewhat true), he'd look desperate (which he kind of was), he was trying to move on (a painfully obvious blatant lie), Al had probably moved on (entirely possible, though he still hoped he hadn't).

Zephyr was a wreck. He could barely focus at work, or keep up during band practice, and every time Zed, Fritz or Chaz suggested he come play football with them to help get his mind off things, he told them he was busy. They knew he wasn't busy, but they let him go anyway. After more than a month of this, though, he was sick of it. He was sick of himself, he was sick of moping around and feeling sorry for himself, and he didn't want to have to live like this anymore.

He'd remembered something.

The next time Roz and Zach were in town, he all but dragged them over to his house and into his room. Once the door was shut, he turned to them, completely frazzled.

"I can't take it anymore. I just..." he wasn't even looking at either of them. He was staring into space, his hands splayed, raking through his hair, as he began to pace up and down, "I'm going crazy here."

Roz was lying upside down across his bed, their head tipped back over the edge, "... Is this you actually _talking_?"

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know," he finally came to a stop in front of them both as Zach sat down beside Roz, "This... this isn't what I need to do. I need to talk to Al. Not you."

"So, _do it_," Zach shrugged and gestured to Zeph's Z-band, "Call him."

Zephyr shook his head, "It's too late for that."

"Zeph-" Zach started, sounding irritated, but Zephyr stopped him, looking him in the eyes.

"I need to see him," his voice was shaking ever so slightly, "In person. He isn't going to believe I'm serious about this unless I actually make that effort. And if that means having him reject me to my face, then I have to take that risk. He deserves a real apology, and I can't just hide behind you, Zach."

Zach nodded slowly, "Good to know you're finally getting that."

For a moment, Zephyr seemed to drift off, "... I broke a promise I made to him when we first started dating, and if I can't do anything else, I need to fix that..." his eyes focused again. Neither Roz nor Zach could bring themselves to ask any questions, "The only thing is how am I supposed to get a license?"

The three of them were quiet for a few seconds, then Zach perked up.

"I think I know a way."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"We're in!"

Al jerked around at the sound of Trisha's excited voice, barging into his room as per usual as he was singing _Why Don't I Miss You?_ under his breath. He had left the door open, at least, so he couldn't be mad at her.

"You have _got_ to stop doing tha- Wait, in _what_?"

"The festival!"

His jaw dropped as his eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

"Look...!"

She whipped out her phone to show him a photo of the setlist, zoomed right in onto their names, clear as day, along with a few of the other acts which meant nothing to Al. _His_ name was there. And just like that, every last shred of anxiety and hopelessness he had been feeling melted away and he let out a short laugh of disbelief.

_His name was there_.

"They still need to announce the final schedule and everything so we don't know when exactly we're playing yet, but-"

"But we're _in_...!"

Without warning, he threw his arms around her, lifting her off her feet for a second or two. They were both laughing when he let her go.

"Somebody's excited!" she teased and he couldn't deny it.

"I honestly didn't think they'd want me..." he breathed.

"Well, they do," Trisha smiled up at him, "So, now do you believe me?"

"Yes. Yes, I believe you," he nodded, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Trisha brought her hands up to her chin, "I try."

A split second later, Al frowned, "Wait, you never gave me the demo back."

She closed her eyes and winced, "Right," she looked at him again, "Just another couple of days...?"

"Fine."

It didn't matter all that much. It might even be worth her keeping it if they were going to be performing.

"I'm gonna call Zach, tell him the good news."

Trisha stood by as he swiped his Z-band and soon heard Zach's voice through the speaker.

"Hey-"

He didn't get very far before Al was rambling.

"Zach, dude, you are not gonna believe this...!"

"What?"

"We got in. I'm playing at the music festival!"

"Oh, my Z...! I told you, didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did," Al laughed, "Man, I wish you could be there. I dunno if you can make it..."

"Funny story, actually," there was a smile in Zach's voice, "I _will_ be there. We're gonna be playing, too."

"You...?"

"We sent a video audition and got accepted. Just found out, like, an hour ago. I was pretty sure you'd get in too but I wanted to wait until I heard from you to say anything."

"You're coming _here_? _And_ you're performing?" he asked, excited at first but then his face fell. He locked eyes with Trisha, who stared back anxiously. She was hearing the whole thing, after all. Alonzo turned away from her, as if that would do anything, chewing his lip, "So, that means..."

"Yeah."

"... Zach..."

"Before you even say anything, this is _not_ just to get you to talk to Zephyr. If you do, great, but-"

"I won't. I _can't_."

He sat down and Trisha cautiously approached, flashing him a look that said 'Are you OK?'. He nodded and waved his hand, already occupied listening to Zach continue.

"I get it. That doesn't mean _we_ can't catch up, though, right?"

Alonzo glanced at Trisha, who shrugged and sat on the arm of the couch facing him. He finally smiled, "Right. You gonna be there all weekend?"

"Three days, so long as we can all get licensed."

"Awesome."

It would be good to see Zach again.

"I'll call you once we know when we're playing. Or you call me if you hear first."

"Sounds like a plan," Al agreed, "I'll talk to you soon."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Al let out a sigh and Trisha clicked her tongue, getting his attention.

"So..." she stretched it out.

"What?"

"You're gonna meet up with Zach."

"Yeah?"

She looked him in the eyes, "And Zephyr's gonna be there," Al opened his mouth but she wasn't finished, "And you can't talk to him."

"I-"

"You said '_can't_'," she narrowed her eyes just a little, "What's stopping you?"

He chuckled and stood up, playfully pushing her as he walked past, almost making her fall, "It's not that deep, Trish."

She knew all too well that he was lying.

For the next couple of days, she couldn't think about much else. Trisha honestly didn't know what to make of Al at this point; on one hand, he was obviously still in love with Zephyr, even if it was just a fraction of how he used to feel. Those songs she found in his book told her there was something there, and she had seen the shift in his mood when he realised Zephyr was going to be at the music festival. Even just hearing him tell her about his first conversation with Zach, when he said he wanted nothing more to do with Zephyr. After all of that, she knew he couldn't possibly be telling the truth.

But on the other hand...

She didn't have time to continue that thought as Al opened the door of his dorm to her. The second he saw it was her, he squeezed his eyes shut and clasped his hands together.

"Please say you're here to give me my demo back?" he asked, biting his lip and opening one eye hopefully.

"Yup!" she smiled and slipped her hand into her open bag, silently reminding herself that his love life was none of her business, and handed it over, "Here." He thanked her and she walked past him towards the couch. He raised an eyebrow, a little confused but still smiling.

"Did you want something else?" he quipped.

Trisha turned around to face him as she sat down and made herself comfortable while Al closed the door, "Now, can't I just come and hang out with my best friend every once in a while?"

"If it was anybody else, sure. But you? Never," he walked over and leaned back against the couch with his arms folded, "You always have an ulterior motive."

Acting shocked, Trisha put a hand over her heart, "I do _not_...!" she insisted but Al just tipped his head towards her and smirked. She rolled her eyes and sat up, "I was kinda hoping you might have finished that last song for the festival. But that's not really an ulterior motive, is it?"

He narrowed his eyes, hating to admit she was right. But, she was, "OK, fine," he stood up straight and gestured to her to follow him to his room, "Yeah, I'm almost done. I could use some help with one last line, though."

She walked in after him as he picked up his guitar and sat on the edge of his bed, grabbing the songbook that she immediately recognised. She felt something stab at her heart thinking about what she had read in that book, but she had to leave it for now. She sat down slightly behind him, leaning to read along over his shoulder as he sang. She had already heard most of it – it was the last verse he hadn't quite finished.

"..._Trust me, I've seen it all, I've survived the highest fall from grace. You think it's a mistake but I'm here to take your place. And it's because I earned it, too bad you never learned to accept reality. So, now I'm..._"

His voice faded halfway through the line where he was still lost on what to write and he looked to Trish for ideas. She tilted her head to one side, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"_Now I'm living proof you're done..._" she suggested and Al thought for a moment, nodding.

"_It's because I earned it, too bad you never learned to accept reality. Now I'm living proof you're done and you ain't got nothing on me._"

With that line finished, he played through the chorus once more.

As the final note rang out, Trisha absentmindedly let her chin rest on Alonzo's shoulder and she smiled to herself. She couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

"You're cute, you know that...?"

Al froze, suddenly noticing just how close they were. He shifted and she lifted her head. Seeing the curious yet coy look in her eye, he frowned, things seeming to click into place, and leaned back. Then shuffled about a foot away from her.

"You're trying to flirt with me."

She giggled, almost on impulse. His confused expression _was_ strangely cute, "Took you long enough."

He moved further back, "Trish, I don't..." he shook his head, "Look, I'm not blind, you're hot. But I'm just not interested. I don't want to start dating again anytime soon, alright?"

It was like she was snapped out of a spell. She blinked and looked down, thinking, then nodded and gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry, I just thought..." she shrugged, looking back at him, "You might need some help."

"Help with _what_?"

That confused face again. But this time, it wasn't going to distract her. Instead, she stared at him with no expression, then shook her head, "You're definitely not over him, Alonzo."

He turned defensive, "Just 'cause I don't want to date you doesn't mean I'm still hung up on him!" He stood up, trying to put some distance between them.

"Oh, it's not just because you won't date me. You won't date anybody."

"So what? My first and only relationship lasted almost three whole years and ended really suddenly, did you ever think maybe I want to be single for a while?"

She wasn't listening. She didn't believe him, anyway, "_And_ you've been playing pretty much every Bowling For Soup breakup song you know! Which is, like... all of them. Constantly."

The only excuse Al had for that was "I like those songs!" which... honestly, _was_ true...

So now Trisha was getting frustrated. She picked up the songbook and found the untitled song, got to her feet then slammed it down on the desk in front of him, "You've been writing songs about him!"

Al snatched the book from her, looked down at the page then back up at her, shocked, "How'd you know about those?"

"You don't exactly hide things well," she pointed out, "I found it here when you were looking for the demo."

Al closed the book and held it up in front of her, "These are private, Trish!"

"Are they about Zephyr or not?" Trisha demanded, not breaking eye contact for a second. Alonzo faltered, his eyes dropping to the floor, and he had to give in. He brushed past her with a groan.

"Of course they're about Zephyr!" he admitted, flopping back onto the bed with his arms covering his face. When he moved them, he was staring up at the ceiling, "I _swear_ I'm not in love with him anymore, it's just..." he sighed and sat up again, "He was such a big part of my life, Trish, moving on isn't easy. And you're really not helping."

Trisha bit her lip, not sure if she should listen to what her brain was telling her to do. She did anyway.

Sitting down beside him, she put a hand on his arm, "... I _could_ help..."

"What...?"

"I could help you move on..." she leaned a bit closer and he immediately jumped up.

"No...!" he was glaring now. It took a lot to make Al mad, and Trisha was doing a good job of it, "Are you serious? I told you, I don't want another relationship."

Then she crossed a line, "It doesn't have to be a _relationship_."

His expression turned cold and she was suddenly concerned. She'd never seen him like this.

"No," he said firmly, "I can't believe you...! You spy on me, you go through my stuff, now you're hitting on me when I said I wasn't interested?"

All she could think to do was turn it on him.

"Don't lie to yourself, Al."

"What am I lying about?"

She took a breath.

"You are _not_ happy being single."

For a few seconds, he just stared at her blankly, then she noticed his jaw tighten and he turned away sharply.

"You need to leave."

"Al..." she stood up but before she could even take a step towards him, he and swung round again and pointed at the door, gritting his teeth.

"_Get out._"

She didn't say another word. She just left.

Jay happened to walk into the dorm at that very moment, silenced by the guilty yet frustrated expression on Trisha's face as she passed him, not even acknowledging him when he asked what was wrong.

"Al...?" he poked his head round the door of Alonzo's bedroom to find him slamming his songbook down on the desk, then placing his hands down on the surface and leaning forward as he took a breath, "What happened?"

He just pushed himself away from the desk and pointed out the door, "She is _not_ coming back here. Ever. I don't wanna see her."

Jay stared at him in confusion, "But, you..." he spluttered, "What about the festival?"

"I'll do it alone."


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. Off My Mind and Break are both original songs by me.

This is a long one. This chapter is sort of a transition between act 2 (Life Apart) and act 3 (Repairing Relationships)

**Chapter 7 theme songs:** Instead by Emma Blackery, The Story Of Us, I Almost Do and Teardrops On My Guitar by Taylor Swift, Envy by Bowling For Soup and (I Guess I) Miss You from the Spongebob Musical

* * *

~ I can't say hello to you and risk another goodbye ~

Chapter 7

Jay and Lizzy had been shocked to find out what happened with Trisha a few weeks ago, but Alonzo had asked them not to bring it up once he'd explained everything. He was set on performing alone. Both of them offered to take Trisha's place but in the end, neither of them had auditioned in time, so there was no way they'd be allowed to do it.

Trisha kept her distance, but Jay and Lizzy would sometimes spot her around. Whenever they caught her eye, she would jump and look down guiltily. They agreed not to speak to her, though. Alonzo had been their friend first, and besides, Trisha should have known better. Alonzo himself never seemed to notice her but then again, between getting ready for the music festival and working on assignments, Al wasn't really paying much attention to anything else. Certainly not Trisha.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

It was the night before the music festival and Zephyr, Zach and Roz had just arrived in town. Most of the out-of-town acts were staying in the same hotel nearby and for three zombies, even a pretty cheap place like this was a big deal. They had gone most of their lives never even seeing a hotel in real life, stuck in Zombie Town as they were. Now that they actually had the chance, Zephyr was too riddled with anxiety to enjoy it.

"Hey," Zach clapped a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, "Just remember the plan. I'm gonna meet up with him tomorrow to hang out. I'll talk about you a little, test the water, see where he's at with everything. He'll be watching our set on Saturday and if it all works out, you can track him down after that easy."

"Right..."

It was simple enough. And Zephyr had even picked some songs to perform that might get Al's attention, and hopefully even remind him of what they used to have. _Catalyst_ was on the list, of course, along with _Epiphany_, _Ridiculous_ and _Envy_. He didn't feel like that was enough to convince him, though.

The next morning, the three of them were up early (much to Roz's annoyance) and on their way to the park not far from Alonzo's college campus where the music festival was being held. They were getting some odd looks from the humans already gathering there, either setting up for the event or just arriving early, but that was nothing they weren't used to. For a while, they were just wondering around, watching a few of the first acts to get a feel for things, until Zephyr stopped dead in his tracks when a flash of green and grey caught his eye.

It wasn't Alonzo himself that made Zephyr freeze, though. It was the human girl behind him, with the long, dark hair, and the concerned and pleading expression on her face, and the hand reaching out for his arm as he was striding along a few steps ahead of her. Every now and then, he would briefly look back at her and say something, always frowning or rolling his eyes or scoffing.

Roz and Zach stopped only a second or two after him, but by then, Zephyr had shaken himself out of it and started walking again. Roz was first to follow him with Zach catching up after them.

"Zeph...?"

He barely even turned around, "What?" It was obvious he was trying to pretend nothing had happened.

"Did you see him?" They weren't going to beat around the bush right now.

"Who?"

Already sick of this, Roz grabbed his arm and forced him to stop and face them, "You know who."

"Alright, fine," he gave in quickly, "But... look," he gestured towards Al and the girl. He sighed, then dropped his arm to his side and gave Roz a hopeless look, "I told you, didn't I? He's moved on. This was a mistake. I'm never getting him back."

He went to turn away but Roz slipped in front of him, "Hey, don't start jumping to conclusions. So he's with a girl, that doesn't mean he's _with_ her."

"They've got a point, Zeph," Zach agreed, coming closer, "He never said anything about a girlfriend to me. Don't you think that'd be the perfect reason not to take you back? If it was true, he would've told me."

"Maybe he didn't think it was any of your business," he suggested, "Or maybe he didn't want you telling me."

"Zephyr," Roz sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, then gave him a tired look, "When Al's in love, he can't hide it. He's an open book. If he had a girlfriend, he'd tell Zach, at least."

"And I _swear_ I'd tell you."

"Even if he told you not to?"

"I'd... strongly imply it."

Roz continued before Zephyr could make any kind of comment, "Besides, look at him," she pushed him back around so he could see Alonzo again, who was now facing the girl and clearly getting angry, "It looks like they're fighting about something."

Zephyr just shook his head, "That doesn't change anything. Couples fight all the time. And look at the way she keeps touching him."

Zach scoffed, "Yeah, and the way he _obviously_ doesn't want her to."

"What do you want me to do?" Zephyr asked him with a blank stare, one hand held up towards Al, "Go over there?"

"Not right now. Stick to the plan."

But he wasn't listening anymore. The moment the words had left his mouth, Zephyr's eyes were set on Alonzo. His hand slowly came down again as the gears in his mind were turning.

He had a chance.

"_Don't_. You know what'll happen."

"He's right there...!"

Roz squinted, "Three whole months refusing to call him, then you see him in a crowd and you're suddenly ready to run over there and pour your heart out?"

"This is different. We wouldn't have been talking face-to-face. He could hang up, or just not answer. But he is _right there_."

Zach groaned, "Just hold on. Let me talk to him first."

Zephyr took a single step closer to Al, keeping his eyes on Zach, "I said I was done with talking to him through you, Zach. I'm going."

"Zephyr!"

"Everyone keeps telling me I need to talk about my feelings, so that's what I'm gonna do," he stated, the slight tremor in his voice betraying how nervous he was, "Even if it doesn't work out, at least I tried."

With that, he turned and left.

"Well," Zach slumped his shoulders, watching Zephyr go, "He's as stubborn as ever."

Roz nodded, a small smile on her face, "But he's finally gonna do it."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Why couldn't she just take a hint?

"Back off, Trisha," Al snapped and turned away from her. He was walking through the crowd of humans arriving at the music festival on his way to meet Zach when she had appeared. She was probably just at the festival anyway, but once she saw him, she evidently couldn't stay away.

"Would you just listen to me?"

"I would if you said anything worth listening to!"

"How would you know? You won't even let me talk to you!" she pointed out and he rolled his eyes, but didn't answer, "I'm trying to-"

"I don't wanna hear it!"

He wasn't going to stop moving. And he wasn't going to look at her. And she was getting frustrated. She came to a sudden halt and for a moment, he thought he might be free of her.

"Why can't you actually deal with your problems?" she demanded, trying to sound calm. He kept walking, though he was being slowed down trying to get around people, "Cutting people off after one little negative experience with them is not a good way to stay positive. You did it to Zephyr, now you're doing it to me. You tried to do it to Zach. One mistake doesn't mean the relationship's completely ruined."

She was so caught up in her ranting that she hadn't even noticed Al had stopped. For a brief, shining moment she thought she had finally gotten through to him but then she realised he hadn't turned around. He was staring at something. Or rather, someone. He wasn't paying her much attention before, but now he couldn't even hear her. He was completely focused on the zombie walking towards him, catching the eyes of humans as he passed but never once acknowledging any of them.

"Alonzo...?" Zephyr said cautiously, coming to a stop a few feet away from him.

For a moment, Al stood frozen, staring at him. Neither Zephyr nor Trisha could tell what he might be thinking until his expression hardened. He wasn't sure exactly what it was he was feeling, but there was a lot of it.

"What do you want?"

Zephyr felt his heart crack at the sternness of his tone. Despite that, he took a hesitant step forward. Trisha glanced quickly from him to Al, then to the ground and she began to back away.

"I-I..." she stammered, "I should go..."

Al didn't even look at her, "Yeah, maybe you should."

She turned and left without another word and Zephyr watched her go, but he could feel Alonzo's eyes still on him, scared to look at him at first when he knew what he'd be met with. He searched for something, anything, to say to him. Trisha disappeared into the crowd and he finally had to face his fears.

"... She your girlfriend or...?"

The only change in Al's expression was a single raised eyebrow, "Why? You jealous?" he tested. Zephyr flinched and opened his mouth but Al instantly shut him up, "_You_ broke up with me, Zephyr. You don't get to be jealous this time."

"This time?" he couldn't help but ask.

Al smiled, but it was nothing like the smile Zephyr was used to. This was cold and accusing, "Remember Zeke? Remember every single time I ever called Zach my best friend? You were always jealous," the smile fell and Zephyr went quiet, his eyes down. Alonzo knew that was the right time to either argue, or turn and walk away, but something was holding him back. He was supposed to be angry at him. He was supposed to want nothing to do with anymore. He was supposed to push him away, show him he was stronger, better off without him. So why did seeing Zephyr's face make him feel so weak? He sighed and looked away, "... She's not my girlfriend. She's not even a friend now."

At that, Zephyr's head snapped up, unable to hide his concern.

"Why? What happened?"

Al was taken aback. He stared at him, surprised, then scoffed and shook his head, "Don't do this."

"Do what?"

"This!" he gestured between them, "Act like you give a damn about me anymore! What do you want from me?"

This was it. This was the moment of truth. Zephyr took a breath and carefully met Alonzo's eyes, "I wanted to apologise. In person."

"... I alrea-"

"You need to hear it from me," he sounded desperate, "I shouldn't be expecting Zach to do everything for me. And I'm sorry for that, too."

It was all Al could do to laugh, "You dumped me for going to college, you never even tried to call me, and you wanna apologise to me _now_?"

"I knew you wouldn't answer. And I almost asked Zach to let me call you on his Z-band once but I knew you'd hang up as soon as you heard me. I couldn't handle that. But I'm sorry, Al. I didn't mean anything I said, I was scared, I thought I'd lose you sooner or later if we tried to make long-distance work. I should've said something before it went too far but-"

"Yeah, yeah, Zach's been making excuses for you," Al held up his hands to stop him, "You really think that's gonna fix things?" he tried to stay calm but his voice was rising almost out of his control, "I _loved_ you, Zephyr, and you gave that up because I wanted to live my life."

It took everything Zephyr had to not reach out and try to comfort him. It wasn't going to work, "I know. I'm sorry, I just wan-"

"_I don't care what you want...!_" Al snapped, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands coming up as if he wanted to cover his ears but instead, he balled them into fists before dropping them to his sides again, "Where's Zach? He's the one I _actually_ wanted to see today."

He had to accept he wasn't going to break through. At least, not yet.

"He's with Roz..." he muttered.

"_Where?_"

"I think I left them near the main stage..."

He was gone in an instant and Zephyr hurried after him.

When the two of them came into view, Zach's eyes widened in panic. Alonzo looked angry, and Zephyr guilty.

"I _told_ you...!" he hissed at Zephyr, more worried than annoyed, then turned his attention to Al, "I told him not to talk to yo-"

"Whatever, can we just go?"

None of them dared to say a word for a few seconds.

"... Yeah. Yeah, sure."

Throwing Zeph an apologetic look, Zach picked up his backpack from the ground and followed behind Alonzo as he turned away, only glancing at Roz for a second and completely ignoring Zephyr.

Roz felt her heart drop when she saw Zephyr bite his lip and look away.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Al had refused to even mention Zephyr after they had walked away, but it only took a couple of minutes for him to relax enough to talk about anything else. A few questions from Zach about how he was doing with college seemed to bring a little bit of the old Alonzo back out. Seeing as neither of them were playing that day and had nowhere they needed to be, plus Jay and his boyfriend had decided to make a date of the festival so he wasn't around, the two of them headed to Al's dorm.

Just as they entered the building, Zach remembered something and slipped his backpack off his shoulder.

"I almost forgot," he said as he opened it and pulled out a tupperware box, "I brought something for ya."

Al practically lit up when he saw the potato fingers and immediately hugged Zach, "My saviour...! I knew I stayed friends with you for a reason."

Grabbing the box, he made a detour towards the kitchen to use the microwave before leading Zach to his own room. Once he was eating, he was much happier.

"You wanna know something? Zane doesn't know what he's talking about, french fries are _nothing_ like potato fingers."

Zach just smirked, "They are _literally_ just fries, Al."

"Liar!"

"Potato fingers are flavoured to taste like flesh."

"_Exactly_!" Al stressed and tossed another one into his mouth, "Nothing like fries."

"... But they are pretty much still fries. It's just seasoning."

Zach was holding back laughter as Alonzo stared at him in fake shock.

"How can you even say that?" he placed a hand over his heart and shook his head, acting hurt.

"'Cause it's true. How are you doing without zombie food, by the way?" he turned serious, "You getting any cravings...?"

"Kinda, but I can deal with it. Mostly by eating way more meat than I ever did before."

The conversation soon moved onto home, and what he was missing in Zombie Town and Seabrook in general. And then, the band.

"I gotta admit, though," Al started, looking like he had been thinking about this for some time, "I'm kinda glad I quit BFZ."

Zach hesitated to say anything at first.

"Because of... Zephyr?"

"Honestly?" Al asked and Zach nodded. Al simply shook his head, "No."

"Then why? You loved it. You loved Bowling For Soup and you loved playing their music and you loved forcing it onto everyone else who would listen."

Al smiled, sticking a few more potato fingers in his mouth, "Of course I loved it! I'm not saying I didn't, I'm not saying I regret it..." he laughed at how serious Zach looked, covering his mouth before he could choke, "I'm still a fan of Bowling For Soup! But I want something different now. I wanna _do_ something different."

Zach tilted his head to one side, "Like what?"

"Like be a real musician," he grinned, "Give Bonzo a run for his money."

"You're already a real musician."

"You know what I mean. I want to actually create something and..." he shrugged, "I'm good at it."

Catching on, Zach raised his eyebrows, "You're writing originals?"

He hadn't planned on telling him about his songs, but Al nodded, "Yeah. A lot. My friends here like 'em, so..." he trailed off at the reminder of Trisha but Zach didn't seem to notice. He just leaned forward, curious.

"What about?"

_Here we go..._

"About anything. Leaving home, friends, being a zombie," he said vaguely, hoping it would be enough to satisfy him but when he turned his head, Zach was staring back at him expectantly. Alonzo immediately frowned and scoffed, shoving him away, "Don't look at me like that, I know what you're thinking and don't even go there."

Zach barely reacted. He kept his eyes fixed on Al, "If you know what I'm thinking then am I right?"

He was going to see right through any lie Al tried to tell him. He cracked easily.

"... So maybe you are, but what does it matter? It's just venting, getting everything out, it doesn't mean anything."

There was a pause, and then Zach sighed and leaned back on his hands, "Let me see 'em, Al."

"What?"

"Show me the songs. If they don't mean anything, you don't care if I read them, right?"

"... Fine," he gave in and went to get his songbook from the desk, quickly thrusting it into Zach's hands and sitting down again like he just wanted to get it over with, which he did. He tried to relax but the second Zach opened it, he felt uneasy, "You'll know it when you see it."

Zach sat reading in silence for a short while, glancing up at Alonzo every now and then, making him more and more nervous, until he eventually lifted his head to lock eyes with him. Al waited anxiously for him to say something.

"And you're telling me you're over him?"

"Oh, for Z's sake, man! You sound like Trisha," he spat, but he was avoiding his gaze now, "I _said_ they didn't mean anything."

Zach cocked his head, giving him a look of 'oh, really?' and looked back down at the page, "_I should've known you'd left your mark, why can't I ge-_"

"That's an old one, it doesn't count," Al tried but Zach just turned the page and opened his mouth to read the next song. Al snatched the whole thing away from him, "Give me the book back," he let his eyes drift across the words on the page for a brief moment before he closed it, keeping his thumb inside as a placeholder. When he turned back to Zach, he was met with a hard stare, "OK, _what_?"

"You love him."

For a split second, Zach saw a hint of fear in Al's eyes before he scowled.

"No, I _loved_ him. Past tense. He's not the same person I was in love with now."

"He's barely changed at all since you left. You know what the only real difference between then and now is?" he asked and Al looked up at him sceptically, "He actually talks about things now. He's not keeping things bottled up anymore. That's huge, Al! That's real improvement. He wants to talk to you, he _came here_ to ta-"

The scowl turned into a glare, "You said you weren't coming here just to get me to talk to him."

"_I_ came to see you. And to play at the music festival. _Zephyr_ came here to talk to you," Zach explained, "I told him to wait, though. At least until I could talk to you, but-"

"So you came to _convince_ me."

"I'm not saying you have to get back together with him! All I'm saying is listen to him, think about it, if you can just learn to trust him again..."

"I don't need to trust him. We're _done_."

It sounded so final, Zach went quiet. Then he slowly shook his head.

"You know, Zephyr might not have changed, but you definitely have."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zach shrugged, "That you've changed."

Al looked down, idly flipping through the book, "Yeah, well, change happens."

Zach watched him for a moment, thinking, "... Hey..." and when Al looked up, he grabbed the book from him. Al gaped at him.

"Why does everybody keep taking my songbook?"

"Because it's the only way to know what's going on in your head anymore!" Zach was getting frustrated, "It's like you've switched places, Zephyr's the emotional one now, you're the distant one. You're only giving yourself one outlet, and it's this book," he opened it and found the song Al had stopped him from reading, "Here," he held it up to show the page, "Play this."

Al just frowned, confused, "What?"

"Play it or I'm taking the whole book to Zeph."

Al's face went blank, "Are you kidding me?" he deadpanned.

"Pick up your guitar," Zach pointed to where it was propped up against the wall, then back at the page, "And play the zraghan song."

Al rolled his eyes but stood up nonetheless, bringing the guitar over. He grumbled as he sat back down, "I don't know why you think this is gonna prove anything."

"Oh, you know."

With a single huff, Al began to play.

"_No-one saw it coming, no-one thought there would be an end. But all of a sudden, we were dead and gone, not a friend in sight..._"

He softened almost the moment he started to sing.

"_How could it happen? How could we let everything go? When did it go wrong? We were all I'd ever known._"

And he seemed to forget Zach was even there.

"_We thought nothing could break us, and we thought we were in control. Didn't know where this would take us, we just knew we made each other whole. Whatever we turned out to be, we thought it'd still be you and me, we thought nothing could break us. We thought nothing could break, break, break us..._"

His eyes were half-closed, lost in the memories.

"_If things ended, you said you'd hold on to our past. So when it ended, how come we couldn't make it last? Something inside me just wanted to hear your voice, wanted you to remind me. But in the end I had no choice._"

Zach had heard Alonzo's passion when he sang before, but he had never heard it like this, right from the heart.

"_We thought nothing could break us, and we thought we were in control. Didn't know where this would take us, we just knew we made each other whole. Whatever we turned out to be, we thought it'd still be you and me, we thought nothing could break us. We thought nothing could break, break, break us..._"

He avoided looking at Zach after the song was over.

"... That's about him, isn't it?"

"It's just venting," he repeated, "That's all any of this is, OK? That's not even really a love song."

"But it is about Zephyr."

There was no denying it.

"Yes, it's about Zephyr. You happy now?"

Zach didn't answer. All he could think about was what Zephyr had said about a promise. Some promise he had made to Alonzo when they started dating. A promise that he broke, adding another layer of heartache to the breakup.

"... He really left you hanging like that, didn't he?"

Alonzo sniffed and scratched his face, then tried to subtly wipe away a stray tear, "We swore we'd still be friends if dating didn't work out. No matter what. I think that's what really hurt about this whole thing."

He couldn't stand to see Al like this.

"You know, I think he'd go for that."

"What?"

"Being friends," Zach smiled reassuringly and when Alonzo dropped his head, he gently nudged his arm, "I'm serious. It's like... you guys really are meant to be together, just maybe not as boyfriends. I mean, come on, you're both complete train wrecks without each other."

Alonzo still didn't look up, but his next words gave Zach a little hope.

"... He seemed pretty desperate when he tried to talk to me earlier..."

"Because he just needs you in his life. Is that so bad?"

"Zach, I don't..." he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do, "I don't know if I _can_. He already hurt me once. What if it happens again? Being friends isn't gonna keep that from happening."

"It won't," Zach promised, "The first time was an accident. It was a misunderstanding and it went wrong, but he's getting better. Give him a chance."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"I'm about to give up, Roz. I tried talking to him and look what happened."

Zephyr and Roz had moved to the other side of the park. It was quieter here, seeing how the festival was drawing everyone in, but they could still hear the music blaring and a handful of humans were hanging around, taking a break from the high energy. Zephyr was sitting on the ground, his back to a fence, with Roz standing beside him.

"You did kinda come at him outta nowhere," she pointed out, "It's the first time you've seen each other in, like, almost four months. You can't just walk up to him and expect to carry on from where you left off. That's exactly why Zach was gonna talk to him first, right? Ease him into it?"

Zephyr sighed and looked up at her, "I get that, but easing him into it is starting to feel more like forcing him. It's not worth it if that's the only way he'll listen."

"It's definitely worth it."

Zephyr and Roz's heads snapped up at the sound of someone else entering the conversation and when he saw who it was, Zephyr quickly stood up.

"You're the girl who was talking to Al before."

She nodded, "Well, trying to talk to him. I'm Trisha. No need to introduce yourselves, I watch your YouTube channel."

"OK..." Roz was obviously confused but one look at Zephyr, who was watching her with caution, told her there was something important about this girl, "What are you doing here?"

Trisha's eyes dropped to the ground for a moment, then locked on Zephyr. She looked almost desperate, "Look, Alonzo still has feelings for you."

Zephyr felt a glimmer of hope, "He what?"

"He'll deny it, and he'll try to push you away," now she sounded desperate, too, "But, _goddammit_, he is _not_ over you."

He had to remind himself that something had happened between this girl and Alonzo to end their friendship. He gave her quick once over, looking for any signs she was lying.

"... How do you know?"

She bit her lip, like there was something she wasn't sure she should tell him. Then she smiled, somewhat sadly. She must have been thinking back to before whatever had caused the rift between her and Al.

"I'd always catch him singing Bowling For Soup breakup songs when he thought he was alone. And _only_ breakup songs. He never wanted to talk about you. He won't date or even just hook up with anybody..." Zephyr noticed her wince slightly at that, "It's just obvious he still thinks about you. He's trying to pretend he doesn't but... he's nothing like he was with you. I watched those videos of the two of you together and he's nowhere near as happy as he was with you."

Zephyr didn't know what to make of that.

"... You're serious?"

"I am _so_ serious," she was practically pleading with him by this point, but he still didn't know whether or not he could trust her, because it felt like there was something else she wasn't telling him.

What had she done to make Alonzo so mad at her?

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"_We used to be the envy, we used to be the talk of, we used to be the best thing about this fucking town! We used to be the ones who everyone thought would make it. We used to be the best thing about this fucking town! Whenever I'm sober, I say to myself, it sucks that it's over but at least we gave it hell!_"

Alonzo stood in the crowd watching his former band play. He tried to keep his focus on Zach, but their conversation from the day before was still playing over and over again in his mind and he couldn't help looking over at Zephyr. He seemed so confident taking the lead. Seemed. Not a single one of the humans watching would know it, but Al caught all the tells that he meant every word he sang. When Zephyr swept his gaze over the audience, though, Al ducked his head to avoid being seen.

By now he had accepted that he was telling the truth, and that Zach was probably right. It was still hard to come to a conclusion. He was doing fine without him. He didn't feel the same way about him now.

"_Our friends always gave us shit for being so in love, we were kings of the PDA..._"

Al bit his lip trying not to smile at the change to the lyrics. It had come and gone so quickly, the humans didn't seem to pick up on it.

"_We kissed until the sun came up and you were gone, we never said goodbye..._"

This was bringing back too many memories. He missed playing with them. He missed BFZ.

... He missed his friends.

"_We used to be the envy, we used to be the talk of, we used to be the best thing about this fucking town!_"

A familiar face caught his eye and his head snapped up; Trisha was among the other humans watching the band perform. Right. She was a fan. But seeing her only reminded him that he would be onstage alone tomorrow. He tried to ignore her and turned his attention back to Zach. And Zephyr.

Between the nostalgia of watching BFZ and the anxiety of having to play alone, it didn't take long for Al to make a decision.

"_When I'm not sober, I say to myself, maybe I should call him, and wish him the best. But I remember it's over. And this feels like fucking hell._"

Once their set was over and they were leaving the stage, Alonzo made his way over to them. Zephyr and Roz were shocked to see him, while Zach was staring expectantly at him.

"... Hey..." Al started a little awkwardly, "Look, I'm sorry I blew up like I did yesterday. I'm not gonna take it all back, but... there was a lot going on..."

"You had every right to be mad," Zephyr spoke up when he couldn't find the words to say.

Al barely even looked at him, "It wasn't just you I was mad at. That girl you saw me with?" he asked and Zephyr nodded, exchanging a subtle look with Roz, "Her name's Trisha. She... she was supposed to be my best friend here. She was gonna sing with me tomorrow but y'know, I guess she was more interested in doing something else with me instead. And I wasn't."

He wasn't. _That's_ what had happened.

"So I cut her off and I was gonna do the show solo but now I don't know if I can handle that. I've never performed solo in front of a crowd. I always had someone with me."

Zephyr was trying so hard not to get his hopes up. Trisha could always be trying to trick him, ruining his chances or something, "What are you saying?"

"... Do you guys want to play onstage with me tomorrow night?"

His mouth fell open and he stared at Alonzo. Zach was grinning and Roz's eyes widened in surprise, but Zephyr could only stare. What did this mean? For _them_? He was at a loss for words but luckily, Zach took the initiative.

"What are we gonna be playing? BFS or your stuff?"

Zephyr suddenly found his voice, "Your stuff? Like, your own songs?"

Al shot Zach an annoyed look and reluctantly nodded, "Yes. I was gonna play a few originals with Trisha but it kinda feels weird doing the songs I rehearsed with her. I just... I don't wanna think about her. So, probably BFS."

"_None_ of your own songs...?" Zach pushed. Zephyr couldn't read his expression as he seemed to be asking Alonzo some silent question.

Al briefly glanced at Zephyr, only making him even more curious, "... Maybe. I do want to perform something I wrote. Just nothing I was planning on playing with her. But at least if it's mostly BFS we won't need to spend a lot of time rehearsing."

Zach nodded, "Speaking of which, we've only got one day to learn whatever you want to want us to do. We better get started."

"We'll get to that. First, though," Al finally turned to look Zephyr in the eye, "Zeph?"

"Yeah...?"

Alonzo hesitated, then sighed, "Can we talk?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't. Off My Mind is an original song by me.

Act 3 begins...!

**Chapter 8 theme songs:** Back To December by Taylor Swift, Play My Music from Camp Rock, Couple Of Days by Bowling For Soup and Lonely Love Song from Spectacular!

* * *

~ The love was gone, I tried to convince myself but I hear that song, and I'm not doing too well ~

Chapter 8

So now he was alone with Alonzo, following him as he led the way to a quieter spot, with no idea where it would go. Had talking to Zach worked? Had Trisha been telling the truth? Al looked nervous as Zephyr followed him away from the stage. Was that a good sign? Or was Zephyr _making_ him nervous? Every question possible passed through his mind in a matter of seconds.

"OK..." the sound of Al's voice stirred him from his thoughts and he stopped, looking up to see Al had turned to face him. They were in the same corner of the park where Trisha had found Zephyr and Roz, and Al was avoiding eye contact as he struggled to find the words to say, "This is harder than I thought it would be..."

"Should I be worried?" Zephyr asked, only half-joking in an attempt to lighten the mood and relax him.

"No," Al shook his head, smiling lightly as he did, "I just really hope I'm making the right choice here."

_What choice?_ he wanted to ask, _Taking me back? _but he kept his mouth shut.

"I know you didn't mean what you said before I left. It _hurt_, a lot, but you made it really obvious you regret it."

Zephyr nodded emphatically, "I really, _really_ do."

"I don't know if I can just... forgive and forget, y'know, but... I don't want this to end like that. I don't want it to come between us. And," he hesitated, "And I did actually kinda miss just hanging out together..."

That sounded promising, but Zephyr needed something more certain.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Alonzo said plainly, "I mean, c'mon, I'm not gonna forget the good times 'cause of one stupid mistake," Zephyr's eyes scanned his face and he couldn't help but feel hopeful when Al softened and looked back at him, "I don't hate you, Zeph. You hurt me but... I know it hurt you, too. I was so mad at you after I left, I didn't want to listen to Zach and you were right, I probably wouldn't have talked to you if you tried to call then. I needed some time to myself, you know? But once I got settled in here, I..." he paused and by now, Zephyr was all too eager to hear what he would say next, "... Yeah, I did start to miss you."

Zephyr felt a single heartbeat as Al met his eyes and he found himself leaning closer.

"I missed you, too."

Just as he was about to close his eyes, though, Al backed away.

"Whoa...!" he smiled awkwardly and Zephyr got the feeling he had done something wrong, "That's not what I meant."

While Zephyr was internally kicking himself for listening to Trisha, Alonzo was trying to push the thought of kissing him out of his mind. This was for the best.

Zephyr stepped back, "I... I-I'm sorry... Al, I just wan-"

"Zeph," Al interrupted him, "I know what you're gonna say and... don't. We're cool, alright? But," he sighed and shrugged, "That's it. That's all we are."

He at least wanted him to know.

"Al, I still-"

"Well, I don't," it sounded so harsh that Zephyr flinched and Al winced at his own words, "Sorry. I don't mean it like that, I just mean... Look, we spent, like, what, ten years completely inseparable. We were best friends. We were boyfriends. We thought we needed each other, but we survived being apart all this time."

"I don't know if you could call it 'surviving'..."

"Zephyr, look at us! You used to be so scared if we broke up, we'd never be friends again and we'd lose all of that-"

He stopped when he heard Zephyr muttering softly, "And it happened. I broke that promise..."

"And I'm fixing it.

Zephyr squinted in confusion, "What?"

"We _are_ friends. I _want_ to be friends again. I want to start over. We can forget the breakup. You don't have to keep apologising and defending yourself. I know you didn't mean what you said, but..." he took a breath and thought for a moment. Zephyr waited, "Maybe you were right. Maybe long-distance just isn't for us. I mean, I thought I _needed_ you. Like, I couldn't do anything without you. I relied on you way too much. But then I left Seabrook and I had to make some changes. And I was fine. I made a life for myself, and I can live it without you."

"... I don't know how to take that..." Zephyr admitted, "Al, I love you. I never stopped loving you. "

"... Listen. I couldn't admit this to myself for a while so it's kinda hard to admit it to you now... I still love you but it's just not the way I did before. I still want you around but I don't... _need_ you anymore," he wasn't sure how else he could put it but Zephyr was still trying to hide how much hearing that hurt, "It's like when we were kids. We're friends. Didn't you want us to be able to stay friends if we broke up?"

"... Yeah... Yeah, I did," Zephyr finally nodded and looked at him. And smiled.

"So, can we start over? As friends?"

"... Alright. Whatever keeps you around," he agreed. Alonzo grinned and pulled him into a hug, Zephyr hugging him back tightly, "You're really OK with that? Knowing I still have feelings for you?"

Al let go and shrugged casually, putting his hands in his pockets, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean, you told Zach you didn't want anything to do with me."

"That was so long ago! I needed to give myself time. And I was still mad at you."

Zephyr raised an eyebrow, though he was smiling back now, "You were still mad at me yesterday."

"I hadn't seen you in months! There was a lot I needed to get out," Al leaned back against the fence. After a moment's thought, he frowned and tilted his head, "... Is that what it's like? Not talking about your feelings?"

Zephyr chuckled a little cynically, "Yeah, pretty much."

So it wasn't what he hoped for, but at least they were on good terms again.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Alonzo had only written so many songs in what time had passed since he wrote _Don't Tell Me_, and Trisha had learned, or at least heard, most of them. He had to choose something that he didn't feel had been tainted, which meant picking from the secret songs. And showing Zephyr things he wrote about him. Of course, Zephyr didn't have to know he had inspired them. Al could only hope he didn't guess that he did. And it seemed like the best option to avoid it was to teach them the music without the lyrics.

He chose one song to perform after a selection of BFS songs. It was one of those that Zach had read so at least _he_ would know. Al had a clear enough idea of the bassline and drumbeat to explain to him and Roz what they would be doing, and as for Zeph, he could play through the lead guitar part himself to guide him.

Throughout the entire rehearsal, which was taking place in one of the campus practice rooms, Al was painfully aware of every little thing Zephyr did, and even more aware of what he didn't do. He was clearly making an effort to act more like he used to, before they dated. The more casual way he talked to him, the close-but-not-too-close distance he put between them, the purely platonic signs of affection. Nudging Al with an elbow or shoulder. Friendly jokes. Light-hearted insults. Focusing on what they were doing instead of quietly wrapping their arms around each other or stealing kisses.

Al stood staring as Zephyr played through the song in full for the first time, with Roz keeping time on the drums. He probably should have been paying more attention to how it sounded, but he was distracted by something about Zeph's expression. There was a sad look in his eyes that Al couldn't ignore, like he wished it didn't have to be like this, but he would accept it.

"You alright, Al?"

Zach's voice jolted Alonzo back to reality. He blinked away his confusion, shooting one last quick glance at Zephyr before turning to face him.

"Yeah," he said vaguely, "I-I'm fine. Why?"

"You look a little down is all," the way he said it told Al that he knew exactly why.

"It's nothing," he muttered, "Just..."

A tiny smile was tugging at Zach's lips and he leaned closer, "... Zephyr?"

Al bit his lip and dropped his gaze to the floor, then slowly looked back over to Zephyr. He was quiet for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, he still wasn't looking at Zach.

"He's backing off," he breathed, like he couldn't believe it.

"You asked him to."

"I know."

"He listened."

He finally tore his eyes away and looked down, thinking, "... Yeah..."

"You got what you wanted," with a knowing smirk that Al didn't see, Zach put a hand on his shoulder, "Congratulations." He left Al to continue staring and made his way over to Roz.

Zephyr lifted his head and Al immediately turned away.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Sunday came, the last day of the music festival and the evening of Alonzo's set when BFZ would be reforming. For one night only. That made them sound like they'd had way more success in the past, and making a comeback like this was a much bigger deal than it was. Either way, Al _was_ excited.

Zephyr, on the other hand, didn't know what to think. He knew that song was coming, and he was so sure it meant something, but Al was keeping up the whole 'friends' thing.

Maybe he was reading too far into things. Trisha had to be wrong. Or lying. She could have misread the signs, and Al had always wanted to be friends again. Maybe it was all just wishful thinking. He glanced over at Alonzo again and again until he gave up hope that he'd ever meet his eyes.

If he had only looked for a second or two longer, he would have.

Alonzo couldn't stop the rush of memories that came over him when he saw Zephyr playing beside him. The last time was months ago. It felt like years. It felt like _days_. It felt like... _everything_. It was everything he remembered loving about performing. Being onstage, with Zephyr. _Punk Rock 101_, _I Gotchoo_ and _Critically Disdained_ were all easy enough to get through and probably not give too much away, but then came the real challenge.

"_I'm taking a vacation from the way she brings me down..._" as he scanned the crowd, he spotted Trisha there. Their eyes met and she froze as he stared her down, "_A thousand beer-soaked love songs scattered on the ground..._" he closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was looking away from her, "_In little stacks of disappointment and little piles of hope. I decided to think positive and this is what I wrote...!_"

He let himself smile.

"_I wanna take you with me across the biggest ocean to a sunny place where no-one ever goes. We can dance and sing your favourite songs from memory. There won't be electricity but maybe we can stay, together there forever or at least for a couple of days._"

Then he realised it was Zephyr he was smiling at. He cursed in his head and thanked Z that Zephyr was too focused on the guitar riff to notice.

He cursed again at the second realisation that he was too focused on Zephyr's guitar riff himself. He nearly missed his cue.

"_We'll have to build a shelter but I'll do at least half the work. You can make us breakfast wearing nothing but my shirt._"

_Why'd I even pick this song...?_

He knew exactly why he picked it. The first verse reminded him all too much of Trisha, then he decided to pretend the rest of it didn't remind him of someone else.

"_And when it rains we can run naked and no-one else will see all the stuff I plan to do to you and what I hope you do to me._"

_Don't think about it._

"_And by stuff I mean having sex and stuff..._"

He refused to even glance towards that side of the stage.

"_I'm pretty sure you knew that..._"

_Do. Not. Think. About. It._

He spent the rest of the song fighting with himself over what exactly he was feeling. It wasn't _Zephyr_ he was singing about. It couldn't be. He had chosen the song himself, and he definitely wasn't thinking about Zephyr when he did. Not at all. This was just how it felt to perform for a crowd; the rush and the thrill. The heartbeat...

... He had felt this way when they were friends, hadn't he? When they first formed Bowling For Zoup, before he and Zephyr had even gotten together. It felt this way back then, didn't it?

He chose to ignore the fact that his feelings for Zephyr had changed long before they got together, long before he even knew they had changed, and that he may already have fallen in love with him by the time they started the band. He was glad they were friends again, that was what he'd wanted, after all. Right now, he was enjoying this time with his _friends_.

It was hard to look away. And it was hard to admit that to himself. He bit his lip and forced himself to turn back to his audience. Behind him, Zach and Roz shared a knowing smile.

"_We can dance and sing our favourite songs from memory. There won't be electricity but maybe we can stay, we'll do it in the ocean like we did St Patrick's Day, together there forever or at least for a couple of days...!_"

He took a moment to just bask in the roar of the crowd and temporarily forget about Zephyr, then he took my microphone from its stand.

"Thank you!" he looked out at the humans watching, "Now, I wasn't planning on having my old band up here with me tonight but things just kinda worked out that way, so you got a little more Bowling For Soup than you were meant to. You're welcome, by the way. But I was actually going to be performing a few of my own original songs, and there is still one I'd like you to here," he took a breath, "This is _Off My Mind_."

He gave Roz a nod and she counted them in.

"_I thought I'd let you go. I thought I could leave it all behind. But I should've known you'd left your mark. Why can't I get you off my mind?_"

He threw Zephyr a look of unease but he didn't seem to react, which was a welcome relief.

"_I don't want to miss you, but everything gets stuck on rewind. Everything we went through. I've gotta get you off my mind!_"

He closed his eyes.

"_I tried to forget, but you found your way back every time. I know you're gone, it's me who buried you, but I'll never get you off my mind!_"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Alonzo was quick to leave the stage. Zephyr watched him go and decided to give him some space, heading off in the opposite direction with Roz close behind.

"Hey, where are you going?"

He stopped to let her catch up, "What do you mean?"

"You know he was singing about you, right?"

Zephyr sighed, "I know. But I _don't_ know what I'm supposed to do with that. He said he wanted to be friends. I don't even know when he wrote that. He could have changed his mind since then."

"You can _ask_ him."

"What if it's not about me? Or if it is just old venting or whatever. It'd make things awkward."

Roz rolled her eyes, "You can handle awkward," she gave him a gentle shove, "Go on. Go find him."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Slipping the guitar strap off his shoulder, Al stood there for a while, lost in thought. He hadn't realised he'd zoned out until he heard Zach behind him.

"I saw you looking at him."

Al spun round, "What? Who?" he asked, way too quickly.

"Zephyr. Who else?" he tried to look him in the eye but Al was avoiding his gaze, "Is staring at your ex-boyfriend, who you're totally over, and totally just friends with, while you sing about being in love just something you do now?"

"It was just a song."

Zach had to laugh, amazed that he was still trying to deny it, "I'm pretty sure it was _two_ songs. One of which you wrote. About him."

"... I'm..." he had no answer to that. Well, he did, but he wasn't about to give Zach the satisfaction of hearing that he was right. He didn't need to hear it, though. He knew.

"'_Not in love with him anymore_', huh?"

Alonzo couldn't even stand to look at the smug grin on Zach's face.

"I'm _not_!"

Zach raised an eyebrow, "You know, he was watching you, too."

Al's head snapped up, "He was?"

"_Ha!_"

He slapped the finger Zach was pointing at him away with a scowl, "Knock it off," he turned away for a second or two, then quietly, and shyly, asked, "... Does he know I was looking at him?"

"No," Zach shook his head and Al sighed, "He was too busy making sure _you_ didn't see _him_. It was kinda weird. You used to have the whole 'romantic eye contact across a stage' thing in the bag. You've lost your touch."

"... What are you even talking about?"

"Every time you looked away, Zephyr was looking at you. You're out of sync."

Out of sync. Even though they were apparently back to being friends, they were still out of sync. That wasn't right. They were _always_ in sync. Perfectly.

Zach broke him out of his thoughts, "You sure you just wanna be friends with him...?"

He mulled it over for maybe a second or two then met Zach's eyes. He was already walking backwards.

"No."

Without another word, Alonzo turned and disappeared almost instantly, leaving Zach with a smug grin on his face.

When he had said 'no' to Trisha, she tried again. Sure, she gave up after that, even apologised, but she still hadn't listened to his first rejection. When he said it to Zephyr, however, Zephyr accepted it. He didn't try to convince him or win him over again. He was willing to make a friendship work again, no matter how much he wanted them to be together.

He rounded a corner and came face-to-face with the very zombie he was looking for.

For a brief second, he stared at Alonzo, unable to read his expression, but he didn't get the chance to say anything because Al, after glancing around and confirming no-one else was there to see them, had grabbed his shirt and pulled him further out of sight.

Zephyr didn't know how it happened. Or why. Or even _when_. His mind had gone blank.

Because Alonzo Morgan was kissing him.


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

*The Boys Are Back from HSM3 playing the background* Something in this chapter will probably come as a slight surprise if you know me *^*

I am so sleepy, I'm at a convention this weekend...

**Chapter 9 theme songs:** Ready To Love Again by Lady Antebellum, Happy As Happy Gets by Bowling For Soup and Mine by Taylor Swift

* * *

~ It must be time to move on now, without the fear of how it might end, I guess I'm ready to love again ~

Chapter 9

Alonzo was _kissing him_.

It was all Zephyr could think to do to cling to him and savour the moment. Al could push him away and say it was a mistake at any minute. But he didn't. He _didn't_ and Zephyr risked snaking an arm around his waist, his other hand making its way up to the back of his neck to pull him impossibly closer and deepen the kiss. When Al responded with a soft moan, gripping his shoulders like it was instinct, Zephyr completely forgot about being cautious or patient or anything else. All that mattered was Alonzo.

Zephyr eventually pulled away to catch his breath, making sure not to let Al get more than an inch or two away. Luckily, though, he didn't seem to want to. Instead, his hands moved from his shoulders, running up his neck and into his hair to tangle his fingers in Zephyr's curls. As he did, Zephyr gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.

"What made you change your mind?"

Al bit his lip and looked down, then shrugged, ".. I don't know. I just saw you on that stage and... it was like high school. I-I thought I was just happy we could be friends again but..." he lifted his head and the second they made eye contact, he kissed him again, slower this time, muttering just loud enough for him to hear as they parted, "I don't think I wanna be friends..."

"Yeah, I think I got that," Zephyr quipped and Al laughed, a little embarrassed. His laughter faded quickly, though, and Zeph gave him a curious look, gently rubbing the back of his neck with his thumb, "Are you OK?"

"It's just..." Al sighed, searching for the words, "I didn't expect it to feel so _wrong_."

"What? The... kiss...?" he started to loosen his grip but Al pulled him back.

"No...! Being friends. Calling you my friend. _Acting_ like friends...!" he finally let go and stepped back, "I know that's what we promised but I _can't_! And you can't either, but you still tried because you thought that was what I wanted. And I thought it was, too-"

"Hey, hey..." Zephyr stopped his rambling by taking hold of his arms and pulling him back towards him, "Slow down, I get it. But what happened to all that stuff you said yesterday? About things changing when you left Seabrook?" he lowered his voice, "And not loving me the same way you used to?"

Al thought for a second. He didn't usually have to think so much about his feelings (or about anything, really) but there was a lot to unpack here, "I lied," he said, then shook his head, "Or I didn't want to admit it. Or I was just... scared of getting hurt again..."

"I'm never gonna hurt you again, Al..." Zeph softly reminded him and he nodded.

"I know," he took a breath, "I don't think I really knew what was going on with me, Zeph. I don't need to depend on you for every little thing anymore, I can have my own life and maybe I really don't love you the way I used to but it was high school. It doesn't have to be the same. Hell, maybe it shouldn't! I'm..." he looked Zephyr in the eyes, "I can actually be independent now, and I needed that. I needed to get out on my own and just _grow up_ and learn to make my own choices. So I could actually _choose_ you."

He didn't notice it, but Zephyr was staring at him in silent awe.

"Alonzo..." his voice was so quiet Al didn't hear, although he probably didn't mean for him to anyway.

"We both needed this," Al said, apparently coming to a conclusion, "We needed to learn to be apart, 'cause we _never_ had that before. Like, ever. Yeah, it could've been better if we hadn't broken up but this is how it happened. And this is how it turned out so let's just accept it," he finally saw the small adoring smile on Zephyr's face, "What...?"

Zephyr, lovingly shaking his head, reached up to touch his face, "You are so much smarter than people give you credit for. And..." he took Al's hand, lacing their fingers together, "You're just amazing. Don't ever believe anything less."

"... You gotta talk to me, though, Zeph. This isn't gonna work if you don't."

"I will," he promised, looking Al right in the eyes, "I swear, Al, I'm getting better."

There was a pause as Alonzo scanned his face.

"If you're still scared we can't handle long-distance, then tell me, we'll figure it out."

Zephyr sucked in a breath and bit his lip, then nodded, "I am scared. I'm so scared that I could be getting you back now when it's all gonna fall apart in a few weeks."

Alonzo ran a hand through his hair to calm him, "It won't. We're not gonna let it. I'll come see you any chance I get, even between band checks. I'll make that time, OK?"

This was where things fell apart the first time around. Zephyr couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if they _couldn't_ visit it each other. But now, he felt reassured. He nodded.

"OK. And I'll come back here when you can't make it to Seabrook," he took Al's face in his hands, "I wanna hear every single song you write, you got that?"

Al chuckled, "Whatever you want, garzi'ka."

"I've missed hearing that," with a grin, Zephyr kissed him, which turned into multiple kisses, "Al...?" he mumbled against his lips.

"Mm-hmm?"

Pulling away, Zephyr tilted his head, "That song you wrote...?"

Al, already getting impatient, kissed his cheek, "Yeah?"

"... Was that about me?"

He immediately bit his lip and looked down, turning shy, "Yeah. It's..." he met Zephyr's eyes again with a half-self-conscious, half proud smile, "It's not the only one."

"I guess that's us," Zephyr beamed, brushing Al's hair back, "Making music for each other."

"... For each other?"

"Al, you're the whole reason I even wanted to learn guitar in the first place."

"Really?"

He nodded, "You're always singing. So I wanted to learn to play music for you to sing to. You just... you inspire me."

"You inspire _me_," Al bit his lip and Zephyr was transfixed by the familiar gleam in his eye. With a teasing smile and his arms around Zephyr's neck, he leaned closer till his lips were only an inch away from his ear, "How about... you come back to my place tonight...?"

He moved away again just enough to see the surprised but eager look on Zeph's face.

"You sure?"

Al shrugged, his smile never wavering, "I figure we should pick up right where we left off."

Zephyr quirked an eyebrow, "Don't you have a roommate?"

"I can kick him out for one night," Al rolled his eyes, "Besides, he's got his own boyfriend."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

**Alonzo:** ur gonna want to stay at ur bf's tonight

**Jay:** why?

**Alonzo:** no reason, just an old friend's in town

**Jay:** ...

**Jay:** are u talking about ur ex?

**Alonzo:** maybe :p

**Jay:** Al

**Alonzo:** pweez?

**Jay:** he broke your heart

**Alonzo:** and fixed it

**Alonzo:** dude just sleep somewhere else tonight. trust me, I know what I'm doing

When Al didn't answer anymore texts after that, Jay rolled his eyes and gave in. He seemed... happier, somehow.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Roz and Zach had quickly found each other after sending their respective best friends into each other's arms, and were now slowly making their way to the park's exit, Roz carrying Zephyr's guitar case.

"What do you think they're doing?" Zach wondered out loud.

"I don't wanna know," Roz answered in less than a second, then held up her hand as her Z-band beeped: a text from Zephyr. She opened it to find a selfie of him smirking as Alonzo kissed his cheek.

**Zephyr:** see ya in the morning ;)

Roz let out a short laugh and showed Zach the message. He grinned.

"That's Al's dorm building," he pointed at the wall behind them in the picture, "Guess you know now."

Roz gave him a blank stare and he snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Are you done?" they deadpanned and blinked slowly at him. He took bit his lip and nodded. Roz closed the message and looked back up at Zach.

"We both totally saw this coming, right?"

"From a mile away."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Despite the fact that she knew it was the right thing, Trisha couldn't help feeling like she was doing something wrong. It made sense for her to be jealous, or upset, or bitter. She was probably supposed to hate Zephyr, but she just couldn't let him give up. She was supposed to keep trying to win over Alonzo. Still apologise, sure, but then convince him she would be better for him. But she had only been trying to explain herself. She didn't even need him to forgive her. All she had been thinking was that _he_ needed Zephyr. And he needed to accept it, and do something about it.

The way he had looked at her when he was onstage hurt, but at the same time, she understood. She deserved it. All she wanted now was for him to _know_. He had to know that she was truly sorry, and that she was giving up. If she couldn't have him, she was so, so glad that Zephyr could. Because Zephyr made Al happy.

_But he could hurt him, too. He already did._

And the cycle started again.

_Could_ Trisha be better? She knew she couldn't know everything about their relationship from just a few videos, but that could mean both that Zephyr wasn't as great as he came across onscreen, or that their love for each other ran even deeper than she, or anyone else, could see. She wasn't sure which would be better.

Something snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Jay and Lizzy walking towards her. Neither of them had seen her yet so she kept quiet as they got closer. What was strange was that Jay was walking _away_ from his dorm building. In completely the opposite direction, in fact. It was already dark out and as far as she knew, there was no reason for him to be casually strolling around at this hour. Soon, though, they were near enough for her to catch a bit of their conversation.

"He's gonna regret it," Lizzy was saying but Jay shook his head sceptically.

"I don't think so. He never told me much about his ex, but I know they broke up over _not_ being able to see each other. If they can fix that, I don't think it's such a bad idea."

She didn't need to hear anymore, she guessed what was happening. Trisha looked from Jay to Lizzy and back again, her eyebrows raised in question but her expression hard to read.

"So, they're back together...?"

The two of them stopped in their tracks and stared at her in surprise. They shared a look, Lizzy shrugged and stood back as Jay took the last few steps towards Trisha and cocked his head, his expression cold.

"Unless you have a better explanation for Al banishing me from the dorm for the night, I'm pretty sure they are."

Now she knew for sure; the relief that came over her in that moment made it clear. She closed her eyes and nodded, suddenly seeming to relax, "Thank God..." she muttered, leaving her former friends confused.

"I thought you liked Al," Lizzy frowned, "Wasn't that the whole problem?"

Trisha sighed, dropping her eyes to the floor and chewing on the inside of her cheek, "I do, yeah," she looked back up at them, "But he's not interested. It has to be Zephyr. If that's what he wants, then that's what I want."

Neither of them said anything. Trisha raised her hand in a small wave, putting her headphones in as she started to walk away.

_How am I? I'm doing fine. It's been a while since you were mine but I don't want you to sleep with hi-_

She was about to skip the song completely, then instead, she skipped to just the last minute, humming along.

_If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that... If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that... If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that..._

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"... You know," Zephyr started after texting Roz, "Trisha told me you still had feelings for me."

Al's head jerked around at the mention of Trisha's name. He frowned, "_What_? When did you talk to Trisha?"

"Friday. When you were with Zach, she found me and Roz talking. And she told me about how you were trying to forget me and move on."

"... Keyword being '_try'_..."

"We're back together, though, aren't we?" Zephyr reminded him, "That's a good thing."

Alonzo looked back at him and slowly smiled.

"Come on," he grabbed his hand and they headed for the dorms.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

This time, it was Al's room they stumbled into, Zephyr just as awestruck as the last time with how this was even possible.

Because he really was this lucky. He had somehow made Alonzo Morgan fall in love with him all over again. Even after he drove him away.

He had wondered how he was ever going to survive without Alonzo, but he had, and he would. It just didn't have to be forever.

Al led him into the empty dorm room, unceremoniously dropping his guitar case on the floor, and the second the door was closed, Zephyr had him pinned against it. Al welcomed the kiss but eventually brought his hands to Zephyr's face to gently push him back, making him pout.

"I said, '_right where we left off'_," he murmured before slipping out of Zeph's grip, taking his hand and heading towards his bedroom. As he stepped inside, though, Zephyr pulled him back.

"Do you actually remember that night?"

There was that guilty look again. The regret. How sorry he was for what he said.

"Yeah. I don't think I could forget it," Al answered honestly, then his teasing smile returned, "But we can fix that, can't we?"

Turning away, he went and flopped back onto his bed as Zephyr walked over and as soon as he was close enough, Alonzo pulled him down with him. Though he had been expecting it this time, Zephyr still looked just a little surprised and Al laughed. It was all the same. He lifted his head to kiss him but this time, instead of pulling away and sitting up, Zephyr kissed back.

Right where they left off.


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And here we are, the last full chapter! There's still an epilogue to come next week, and _possibly _an alternate ending at some point~ I also have an idea for a bonus chapter of Tattooed Mistakes! That'll be very heavy on the angst so be warned. Limelight and, hopefully, Beyond The Barrier will be returning soon!

Btw I spent most of my time and money at the convention last week commissioning artists to draw BG zombies. _**Money well spent**_

**Chapter 10 theme songs:** Next To You by Emma Blackery, Just Wanna Be With You from High School Musical 3 and I'm Not That Girl from Wicked

* * *

~ No matter where life takes us, nothing could break us apart ~

Chapter 10

When he woke up the next morning, Alonzo didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want to look. If he looked, he might regret it. He might regret sleeping with him. He might regret getting back together with him at all. Maybe he could pretend for a moment it was someone else's arms around him, and he really was over Zephyr. But it wasn't.

He eventually opened his eyes, staring straight ahead, still scared of what could happen. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the unmistakable mossy green curls and suddenly he couldn't stop his gaze from drifting further down. Zephyr lay beside him, a peaceful expression on his face, with one arm draped across Al's waist and the other under his neck with his hand in his hair. In that moment, Alonzo did regret it.

He regretted ever wanting to shut this boy out of his life.

He reached out a hand and gently stroked Zephyr's cheek, stirring him awake. Zephyr scrunched up his face for a second as he let out a small, sleepy moan and Al wondered how he had even survived these last few months without waking up to that even once. When Zeph finally locked eyes with Alonzo, he seemed to hesitate, giving him a questioning look. He must have been thinking the same thing, that Al would end up changing his mind. He sucked in a breath, not sure what to say, but then Al smiled and slowly kissed his forehead, letting his lips linger there as he mumbled, "Good morning, garzi'ka."

Zeph closed his eyes and sighed with relief, "Morning..." he smiled up at his boyfriend.

The hand on Alonzo's waist came to take hold of his chin and pull him into a long, sweet kiss. He hummed happily and, bringing his hands up to cup Zephyr's face, rolled onto his back. Zephyr easily let himself be pulled on top of Al, propping himself up on his forearms.

When they parted, Al lay looking up at him in silence for a moment, brushing a thumb across his cheek.

"... We're gonna make it work this time, right?" he asked in a whisper.

Zephyr slowly leaned down to kiss his lips once more, "I am _never_ gonna risk losing you again, you hear me?"

A smile spread across Al's face, so contagious that Zephyr couldn't keep from grinning as he pressed their foreheads together. In a flash of spontaneity, he pecked Al's nose, earning a surprised giggle in response, then quickly ducked his head to nip his neck just below his ear. Al gasped and laughed, Zephyr laughing along with him.

This was it. This was right. This was how he was _supposed_ to feel. How _Zephyr_ was supposed to make him feel.

Loved. Completely.

He left a few more kisses on his neck and jaw before Al stopped him.

"Wait. Wait a minute," he said and Zephyr pulled back, "What time is it?"

Zephyr frowned at the sudden change in priorities and checked his Z-band, "About eight thirty, why?" he asked and Al groaned, screwing his eyes shut and scrubbing his hands down his face, "You got a class?"

Al huffed and looked back at him, "Yeah. Nine o'clock," he sat up slightly but Zephyr wouldn't get off him, "C'mon, let me up."

"I don't think you have to go..."

Al sighed, "I kinda do. I'm here on a scholarship, remember? I literally can't afford to skip class."

"Baby, I got four whole months of kisses to catch up on...!" Zephyr practically pleaded and Al chuckled.

"Didn't you get enough last night?"

"No..." he went in for another kiss but Al gently pushed him off, laughing, and Zephyr finally relented, reaching for his own clothes as Al began to get ready. Zephyr couldn't take his eyes off him. When they were both half-dressed, he gave in and walked over to Alonzo, who had his back turned to him, and hugged him from behind. He pressed a slow kiss to his shoulder and rested his head against his back, "I love you..."

"I love you, too," Al turned around in his arms and was surprised to see how sad Zephyr looked. His brow creased with worry and he brought a hand to his cheek, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Normally, Zephyr would wave it off. He'd smile and say it was nothing and kiss him to distract him, maybe make some excuse, but he wasn't going to do that anymore. Instead, he sighed.

"I'm gonna go back home and I'm just gonna be missing you again."

"Well, yeah, but," Al's other hand found Zephyr's waist and pulled him closer, and Zephyr's arms naturally wound around his neck, "This time you know if you call me, I'll pick up."

"I know... But it just hurts when you're not around."

"That was different. You thought I hated you," Al said gently, "And I thought you hated me. We'll be fine this time, we're gonna make it work. We'll talk every day and we'll visit each other whenever we can, like we planned the first time."

There was a pause. Zephyr looked at Alonzo for a moment, then smiled softly, "You know, I am so proud of you, garzi'ka."

"Proud?"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"Look at you...!" he pulled back slightly, moving his hands down to Al's arms, "You got out of Seabrook, you're at college, you got a scholarship, _you're making your own music_. And you're doing it all yourself," his hold on Al loosened and he looked down, "And here I am still with no idea what I'm doing with my life..."

"You'll figure it out."

"Will I?"

Al placed a finger under Zephyr's chin and tilted his head up to meet his eyes, "You're still working at the music store?"

"Yeah."

"And your mom and dad are still cool with you living with them?"

"Yeah, for now."

"So, you've got time. Besides," he shot Zeph a cocky smirk, "When I'm a famous rock star, you won't need to worry about anything."

Zephyr smirked back, "I thought we agreed we weren't just gonna rely on each other for everything?"

"I said _I_ wouldn't rely on _you_. No-one said anything about _you_ relying on _me_."

Zephyr pretended to consider this, then nodded, "I might have to take you up on that..." he leaned in close to Al's ear, "Rock star..."

Al shoved him away with an affectionate roll of his eyes.

"Get dressed, we both gotta go," he lowered his voice a little, despite the fact no-one else was around, "And I don't know when Jay's gonna get back."

Satisfied, Zephyr let him go and let Al finish getting ready, doing the same himself.

"Al?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Did Zach tell you where we're staying?"

Al pulled his hoodie over his head and turned to Zeph, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, we didn't get to say goodbye last time," Zephyr said with a shrug, his hands in his pockets as Al came towards him, "I wasn't there when you left. I wanna make sure you're there when I leave," now it was his turn to place his hands on Al's waist and pull him close, "I wanna kiss you goodbye. OK?" he pulled him down to connect their lips, "Just like that."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Later that afternoon, Alonzo was waiting outside the hotel with Zephyr, Zach and Roz for their bus to arrive. He stood right by Zeph's side, a little afraid to get too close to him when there were strangers around. Zephyr had quietly slipped his hand into Al's and though he didn't resist, Al was careful to keep their joined hands out of sight.

"This isn't Zombie Town, Zeph," he reminded him in a whisper, "People aren't so tolerant here."

Zephyr nodded in understanding and squeezed his hand. The four of them spent a couple of minutes talking and catching up, now that all of the relationship drama was over with, until the bus came into view down the street. By now, the only other people around also seemed to be waiting for the bus and as they all came forward, Alonzo and Zephyr stayed where they were. Away from prying eyes, Zeph placed one hand on Al's face, turned his head and pulled him into a warm kiss. The sound of Zach's teasing from a few feet away interrupted them.

"What, I don't get a goodbye kiss, too?"

While Al bit his lip trying not to laugh, Zephyr just shot him an irritated glare and flipped him off. Zach simply nodded in acceptance.

"Fair enough."

Al immediately burst out laughing and dropped his head onto Zeph's shoulder. Zephyr quickly pecked his cheek.

"I have to go," he muttered with a sad smile, "But we'll see each other soon."

"I know."

They shared one last brief kiss and finally said a real goodbye before Roz called out to Zephyr to hurry up. He let go of Al to catch up with them and boarded the bus, waving to Al from the window once he sat down.

Alonzo watched as they disappeared into the distance. So much had happened during the music festival, it was hard to believe it had only been three days. Or, well, four, now. But everything fell back into place and he actually felt like he could relax for the first time in months. Then his moment of peace came to an end when he heard a familiar voice getting closer.

"So, who was right?" Trisha asked, seeming to materialise from nowhere as she always did. Alonzo spun around to face her.

"Wha-" he stopped when he saw the grin on her face, then shook his head and continued, "Were you spying on me again?"

"Not intentionally," she insisted, suddenly looking serious, her hands held up in front of her. He raised an eyebrow, "I swear. I was looking for you but then I saw you were..." she smirked, "_Saying goodbye_ to Zephyr, and I thought I'd give you a moment." Al just rolled his eyes.

"What do you want?"

Folding her arms, Trisha smiled cryptically and nodded in the direction BFZ had left in, "I got what I wanted."

"For him to leave so you can make a move again?" Al mirrored her folded arms, "Well-"

Before he could say anything, though, he was interrupted by Trisha laughing, just a little. He frowned in confusion.

"No...! God, no, I wanted you to give Zephyr a second chance, and you did."

Now, he was completely stumped, then he remembered what Zeph had told him.

"... Why'd you want me to get back together with him? He said you even talked to him about it. Weren't you supposed to be into me?"

She sighed, "Were you even listening to anything I said yesterday?"

"Honestly, no."

"Al," she dropped her arms to her sides again, "I do like you, so I _care_ about you. The guy I used to watch in those videos, _that_ Alonzo was always happy, but when we met you were just... different. You didn't have that 'let's do something stupid for the hell of it' attitude. It was like you were missing something," she paused, looking down and lowering her voice, "I thought it was just a relationship in general, and I wanted to be the one to bring that side of you out again but," she gestured back towards where Zephyr had been, "It had to be him."

Al faltered, "... I mean, I could've just been missing my friends."

"But that's not what it was, is it?"

"... No," he admitted, "You were right about one thing, Trish, I just..." he shrugged, "I love him."

"And I love that he makes you happy," Trisha agreed, "Especially after he's been making you miserable for months."

Al scowled at that, "I've been making myself miserable."

"Over him."

"OK, do you actually want me to be with him or not? I'm getting mixed signals here."

For a moment, Trisha just looked at him.

"I want whatever will make you act like your old self again."

Al looked away, thinking, "That's exactly what he's doing..." he turned back to her sharply, "But that doesn't mean I forgive you."

"It doesn't have to," she said plainly, shrugging one shoulder, "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page," she gave him one last smile then went to walk past him, "I'll see you around."

She didn't wait for him to respond before leaving. She _was_ happy for him, she was just _less_ happy for herself. But this was how things were, and she really did care about Alonzo. She trusted that Zephyr would be good to him, despite the things that had been running through her head over the last twenty-four hours. She might have thought she could fix his problems but in the end, he could fix them himself.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

He had pretty much survived that day on nothing but pure adrenaline. Between how busy the band had been with the festival and his night spent with Alonzo, Zephyr definitely had not gotten enough sleep over the weekend and he was ready to crash.

He had continued to text Al while they were on the bus, already figuring out when they might be able to see each other again, then when he arrived back in Zombie Town and was on his way home, he bumped into Lindzey as she was walking Zipper. At first, he expected her to make an excuse to leave – they had been avoiding one another ever since the breakup – but then she hugged him. It turned out Al had already texted her to tell her the good news, and she was relieved to hear it. She was sick of the awkwardness. Once he got home, he was busy with filling Rizzo in on (almost) everything that had happened while he was gone, and their parents were next.

With all of that out of the way, Zephyr was about to get into bed when his Z-band beeped. As he unlocked the screen, he sat down, kicked the covers back, then lay on his side to read the text.

**Alonzo:** goodnight garzi'ka, I love you 333

He could have melted from those words alone. A wide grin broke out on Zephyr's face as he rolled onto his back, holding his left arm up so he could stare at the text while his right arm was held behind his head, propping him up. He sighed, dropped his arm onto his stomach and looked up at the ceiling, thinking back over the last few days with Al. He honestly didn't expect things to go quite this well when he decided to go to the music festival.

He closed the message for a moment and opened the photos app, pulling up the selfie he had sent Roz where Alonzo was kissing his cheek, then swiped to the next one, taken only a couple of seconds later, when he turned to face Al and kissed his lips. Seeing the smiles on both of their faces made his heart beat as he went back to the text.

**Zephyr:** I love you too baby, miss you already 3 grodge garzeep ;)


	12. Epilogue

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And thus, Since We Broke Up AKA the future fic comes to a close...! I did end up deciding that this is canon to my ZOMBIES fic timeline, so after everything in Limelight, however long that goes on for, this breakup and makeup _will _happen. And I think I'm quite happy with that

Limelights will be returning very soon, as will Beyond The Barrier, and the bonus chapter of Tattooed Mistakes is now in the works~

**Epilogue theme songs:** You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home from the Hannah Montana movie, Friends O' Mine by Bowling For Soup and When You Got A Good Thing by Lady Antebellum

* * *

~ We saw the world and the world seemed smaller ~

Epilogue

**Zephyr:** happy birthday, zrugra! can't wait for tomorrow ;)

What a perfect wake-up call.

Al looked down at his Z-band with a sleepy smile and sat up. That text was quickly followed by ones from his mom and Zach, then as he was getting dressed a few more came from Roz, Bonzo, Keira, Mackenzie, Diaz and Bree.

It was his nineteenth birthday, which meant it was time for him to return to Zombie Town for his Z-band maintenance check. He was born in the afternoon so the check could wait till the next day, and seeing as he had an important recital that day, that was a good thing. But his license would still be expiring that night, so he would have to be back within Seabrook before midnight.

This would be the first time Al saw Zephyr in person since they got back together.

Christmas had been complicated. Al couldn't quite afford the trip back home. Plus, it was only a couple of weeks after the music festival and he had work to catch up on that he'd neglected. Jay and his boyfriend had invited him to spend the winter break with them, which had been fun, but due to monthly limitations, Zeph couldn't even get licensed to come back so soon and Al ended up feeling like a third wheel. His mom and sister had managed to visit, at least, though. Valentine's Day wasn't much more than a week before Al's birthday, so they agreed to just wait it out.

Jay and Lizzy insisted on doing something together for his birthday before he left, even just for a couple of hours, so once he was done with the recital and classes for the day, the three of them would be going out. Afterwards, Alonzo would be heading back to Seabrook.

In his excitement, Al had gotten up earlier than usual and decided to use the extra time to actually have breakfast instead of _maybe_ snacking on something on the way to class. The kitchen down the hall was relatively quiet, with only one or two other early risers dropping in to grab something as Al fried some bacon. Without any proper zombie food, he needed to rely on meat to keep his cravings down.

He took a seat and reopened the first text from Zephyr to read again as Jay entered the kitchen. Al didn't even look up, just returned his quick 'hey' and continued to smile giddily down at the screen as he thought about what was to come the next day.

"What does 'zrugra' mean?" Jay asked and Al jumped, snatching his arm back when he realised his roommate was looking over his shoulder.

"Uh, could you maybe _not_ read my private texts from my boyfriend?" he tried to sound accusing but failed, unable to keep from smiling.

Jay smirked and held up his hands in defence as he stepped back, "Hey, I just happened to catch sight of one little word and I was curious!" he explained, "So what does it mean?"

Al closed the message just to be safe, "'Attractive', basically," he said, leaning across the counter, "Like, 'beautiful', 'handsome', 'gorgeous'. 'Hot'," he grinned and straightened up again, "It does mean 'delicious' as well, though. So take that however you want."

He watched Jay think about this for a second or two then laughed as his face twisted in realisation.

"Wow. That's totally not concerning at all."

"They created Zombie-tongue during the outbreak when zombies were just barely starting to get their brains working, can you blame 'em?"

"Guess not..."

Al quickly checked the time and shoved the last of his food into his mouth, "Gotta go."

"We still on for tonight?" Jay called after him as he left.

"Definitely!" Al turned around to shout back then ran off.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

By the time Alonzo arrived in Zombie Town, it was way after eleven o'clock, a little too late to be visiting Zephyr or Zach, so he went straight home. Lindzey was staying over while he was back but what surprised him was that she had brought Zipper along with her. Once he had greeted his mom and sister, the dog had Al's full attention, at least until Lindzey stormed into his room soon after to demand her dog back. Al had let Zipper jump onto his bed and managed to snap a picture with him before Lindzey took him away and he sent the photo to Zephyr along with his usual goodnight text. Zeph texted back just seconds later.

**Zephyr:** and I still gotta wait like 12 more hours to kiss you?

**Alonzo: **less than 12 hours :p

**Zephyr: **I already waited 2 months!

**Alonzo: **u lasted 4 months last time

**Zephyr: **and it almost killed me :(

Al could just imagine him pouting at his Z-band and chuckled to himself.

**Alonzo:** just a little longer 3 get some sleep

**Zephyr:** fine... goodnight garzi'ka 3

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Al was at the containment facility first thing the following morning. It didn't surprise him that his Z-band was apparently showing an increase in his heartrate, considering he'd be seeing Zephyr very soon. Once the maintenance check was complete and his license was renewed, he'd find Zeph waiting for him right outside.

He practically ran straight into Zephyr's arms the moment he laid eyes on him, breathing him in and feeling him sigh against him.

"Z, I missed you so much, Al..." he pulled away just enough to look him in the eye, "How'd it go?"

Maintenance checks could be stressful; anything could go wrong during them and even though the patrol's treatment of zombies was improving, it didn't change the fact that they had to run potentially dangerous tests and occasionally even remove the Z-band altogether for one reason or another. But this time, Al had fortunately managed to avoid any major problems.

"I'm fine," Al assured him, holding him close, "Nothing to worry about. Just a heartbeat."

Zephyr relaxed and smiled as he finally kissed Alonzo, slowly, softly and passionately, "Good..." he breathed, then smirked, "It's a day late but are you ready for your birthday present?"

Al smirked back, "Am I?"

"Don't get too excited, now," Zeph told him, "We're not gonna be alone."

Al shook his head, grinning, "I knew it. You threw me a party, didn't you?"

"Sort of. But that's not the present."

"Then what is?"

"Ah...!" Zephyr held up a finger, "Don't wanna spoil the surprise, now, do we?"

He took Al's hand and began to lead him away.

Once they were back in Zombie town, it didn't take long for Al to pick up on where they were going – the old power plant. Party central. Obviously. And, obviously, there was time for a quick make out session in the elevator.

When the doors opened and they stepped out, they were met with the inevitable cheer of "Surprise!" from the small gathering of zombies and humans. Zach, Roz, Rizzo and Zane were all there, of course, along with Keira, Diaz, Mackenzie, Chaz, Bonzo, Zed, Eliza, Bree, Addison and a few others; people he hadn't seen since he left Seabrook. Once he had greeted each of them, though, his attention went to the instruments set up in front of Bonzo's DJ booth, where BFZ's stage had stood any time they played at a zombie mash. The old instruments they had originally started out on – the repaired guitar and bass Bonzo had given to Zephyr and Zach when he was teaching them to play and the homemade drums Roz used to teach themself – were front and centre. Alonzo's old guitar, however, was nowhere to be seen. In its place, perched proudly in the stand, was a shiny new Stratacoustic with a dark red finish. He took a few steps forwards until he was standing right in front of it.

Everyone was watching Al eagerly to see his reaction, but to him there was nothing else but the guitar, and Zephyr. He looked from his boyfriend to the Strat and back again, gaping.

"You bought me a _guitar_?"

Zephyr suddenly felt a little self-conscious and smiled shyly, "Well, yeah... I mean, there's employee discount and everything so-" He stopped short when he realised how close Al had managed to get in just a few seconds.

He held Zephyr's face in one hand while the other was placed on his chest, toying with his collar briefly then curling his fingers around the fabric, "You're too good to me, garzi'ka," he murmured and pulled him into a kiss. A chorus of cheers and whoops erupted from their friends and Al would swear he heard Zach whistling. They laughed as they separated and Zephyr stepped back to pick up the guitar, hand it over to Al and turn on the amp it was already hooked up to.

"C'mon, then, rock star," he teased, "They haven't heard you play in a long time. You wouldn't wanna disappoint your oldest fans."

The others cheered again and Zach set them off chanting his name until he laughed and took the guitar from Zeph.

"Alright, you've convinced me," he joked, sitting down and taking a moment to check the tuning, "... This is gonna be pretty cheesy but you can't blame me, right?"

He shot Zephyr a sly smile, then Zach and Roz, too. They all grinned and Alonzo counted himself in.

"_Well, it was ugly but we made it this far. Some have gone but I forget who they are. Now the hangovers are worse but we get through 'em fine..._"

As he expected, as it had always been every time they played this song before, Roz joined in, "_We're sleeping late but we're not lazy,_" then Zach, as well, "_Getting older but we're still crazy,_" and finally, Zephyr, "_I'm so glad that I have these friends of mine...!_"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"So, when are we gonna see each other again...?"

The two of them were alone, once again, in the light garden. They expected the others had all left by now, although they weren't actually sure how much time had passed.

"Your birthday, obviously," Al said after a moment's thought, making Zephyr smile. Then he laced their fingers together, turning more serious, "And I wanna come back for Z Day."

Z Day was the anniversary of Z's death; a day of remembrance and mourning in the zombie community, as well as a celebration of the first zombie rights protest. Zephyr mirrored his expression and nodded, resting his head on Al's shoulder and wrapping his arms around him.

"Good," he pressed a small kiss to his jaw, "I'd hate for you to be away from home for that. Especially on your own."

Alonzo hummed and tenderly kissed his forehead, "I'll be here," he promised, "Will you be alright without me for a couple more months...?" he smirked.

Zephyr sighed dramatically, then smiled as Al nuzzled against him, "I'll get through it."


	13. Alternate Ending

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Finally, here is the non-canon ending! This fits in _**after chapter 5**_ of the story. I got this idea out of nowhere when I was halfway through writing Since We Broke Up but 1. I had already plotted out the whole story, 2. it felt like it would resolve the drama too fast and 3. it didn't feel like a solid enough ending with enough happening. But I decided to write it anyway! :D The very end of it still feels not quite right but it's enough just for a bonus thing, at least

The "bonus chapter" for Tattooed Mistakes looks like it's turning into more of a sequel, albeit a much shorter one, so get ready for some angst when that finally comes out!

**Alternate ending theme songs:** I Ran (So Far Away) and Scope by Bowling For Soup and Somewhere Love Remains by Lady Antebellum

* * *

~ I ran so far away, couldn't get away ~

Alternate Ending

He never actually bothered to log out.

Alonzo had uploaded his goodbye video a couple of weeks ago, and he was spending most of his spare time on writing and practicing songs with Trish for the audition. That, plus his college work, was keeping him busy so it wasn't surprising he was distracted.

When he eventually realised his Z-band was still logged in to Bowling For Zoup's account, something stopped him from logging out. He got curious. Of course, it should have taken him to the login screen, if Zach had done as instructed and changed the password, but it didn't. Either Zach had forgotten, or he had wanted Al to still have access to the channel. With that in mind, his curiosity was piqued and he went to look through it. It wasn't long before he saw what Zach had done.

The most recent uploads were all unlisted, and had all been posted in the time since he made the goodbye video. The titles were all vague variations of "Watch" and the thumbnails barely gave anything away; Al could just barely make out the mural in the power plant light garden, the café at the plaza, the cauli-brains stand...

"... You know you gotta spell these things out for me, man..." he muttered under his breath but clicked the oldest one anyway.

A BFZ gig, at a zombie mash. Al frowned; why would Zach keep this unlisted? They posted video of gigs all the time. Whatever the reason, he guessed it was filmed by either Rizzo or Zane. Bonzo was playing the keyboard, as he often had when they needed it, and it looked as though Zephyr was singing lead now. Al rolled his eyes but kept watching, unable to keep his eyes of his ex-boyfriend. There was no-one around, he didn't need to defend himself.

The video started as the band was finishing _Epiphany_ with nothing seeming too out of the ordinary until the next song was about to start. Zephyr paused, casting a quick glance over his audience then stepped back towards Zach. They whispered to each other for a little while, Zach looking apprehensive at first, and Zephyr pleading, until Zach gave in and, to Alonzo's surprise, took Zephyr's place at the mic. He felt his heart drop as Zephyr, now standing back, began to play. He knew exactly what this song was. Zach moved his bass to his back and sang.

"_Me, I'm a part of your circle of friends. And we notice you don't come around. And me, I think it all depends on you touching ground with us, but..._"

Why wasn't Zephyr singing? Alonzo risked looking at him and immediately regretted it. He looked so torn up, slowly breaking more and more as the song went on. Eventually, he couldn't stand to keep watching and closed it, letting out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He sat in silence for a moment.

...What else was there?

In the second video, it was clear that Zach was trying to hide that he was filming, using his Z-band instead of a normal camera and continuing to play his bass as it was rolling. It looked like they were at Roz's house, evidently for band practice, and Al tensed up when he once again recognised the song.

"_You've got me under your thumb, sometimes I feel so dumb, you put a smile on my face, but only sometimes..._"

Al could tell by his voice, his expression, his posture, everything, that his heart wasn't in it. Or at least, not in the right way.

"_You make me weak in the knees, I think it's cute when you sneeze, I think your shoes are so cool, sometimes..._"

As Zach and Roz began to play the pre-chorus, Zephyr dropped the neck of his guitar and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He scrunched his eyes shut, "Stop...!" he sighed, holding up his other hand then letting it fall to his side as he opened his eyes, "Stop, stop... I can't."

"Told you," came the sound of Zach's voice and Roz leaned forward over her drumkit.

"Having a little trouble, there, Zeph?" she asked, "_Again_?"

"No..."

"We all know this whole 'moving on' thing isn't working," Zach sighed, sounded irritated. This must have been going on for some time.

"I _am_ moving on!"

Not even Alonzo believed that.

"Get through one song that has some connection with Al and _maybe_ we'll take your word for it," Roz shrugged.

Zephyr sounded tired as he answered, "That's every. Single. Bowling For Soup song I know."

"Is this you admitting you're not moving on?"

He just groaned instead of responding.

The camera shifted as Zach removed his bass, "That's a yes."

Again, Alonzo closed the video in frustration and fell backwards onto his bed. He raked his hands down his face and growled under his breath, "_Zach...!_" then dropped his arms down above his head, "What are you trying to _do_?"

He knew full well what Zach was trying to do: he was trying to prove his point about Zephyr. And although he hated to admit it, it _might_ be working. Just a bit.

Al felt conflicted. Seeing how much Zephyr was hurting without him made him want to reach into the screen and hug him and tell him they could try again. But it also satisfied the part of him that held all the bitterness towards Zephyr. The part that would only even consider taking him back if he got a real apology. And not _just_ an apology; Zephyr would have to beg for forgiveness. After all, he knew now that he didn't need Zephyr. He had a new life without him, and a promising future. He didn't need a boyfriend (or girlfriend, for that matter) to live out his dreams.

_That doesn't mean you can't have one._

Lying there, staring at the ceiling, Al let his mind buzz with thoughts and feelings and questions. It was getting late and he was exhausted. Maybe he should be thinking about this with a clearer mind.

He would have to sleep on it.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

It had been on his mind all day. He could barely focus in class or at practice and Trisha quickly picked up on it.

"Hey," she waved a hand in front of Al's face and he blinked, "What's up?"

"Nothing," he tried to sound nonchalant but she just tipped her head towards him, her eyebrows raised.

"Uh-huh."

"Seriously, it's nothing."

Trisha folded her arms, "Something tells me this is about Zephyr..." she said slowly and she noticed him flinch, "Yup. It's Zephyr. Come on," she took his guitar from him, set it aside, and pushed him to sit down, "Spill."

"How do you always know these things?"

She shrugged, smiling, "It's your own fault, Al, you're an open book. So, it _is_ Zephyr?"

Al sighed, "Yes. It's Zephyr."

"You ready to admit you're still in love with him?"

He wasn't ready, but it was obvious she was right judging from the half-groan, half-whine that escaped his lips.

"No. Maybe. I don't know, Trish, it's just..." his shoulders slumped and he beckoned her over, opening his Z-band's YouTube app, "Look at this. Zach and Roz have been posting these unlisted videos of him talking about m-" he cut himself off when he got the 'my videos' section. Trisha had already seen what it was.

"Wait, is that _him_?"

She grabbed his wrist to turn the screen slightly so she could see better. She was right. It was him.

"That wasn't there last night..." Al muttered.

A new video had been posted, also unlisted, but this one was titled 'I caught them', and the thumbnail was of Zephyr himself, the camera below his face as he looked off into space in the middle of a sentence, leaning his head in the other hand. Al couldn't help but stare.

After a seemingly long silence, Trisha spoke, "Well? Aren't you gonna watch it?"

"With you breathing down my neck? Not likely. It's none of your business. No offense."

"None taken. But you need to watch it."

"We're supposed to be practicing."

She scoffed, "We can practice later."

"You're still not getting _Don't Tell Me_."

"So _what_?" Trisha couldn't believe what she was hearing, "This could be important. Let me listen to the demo again and I'll figure it out on my own," she picked up her jacket and bag, slinging them both over her shoulder, "C'mon. We are going back to your room, you are giving me the CD and then you're gonna watch that video."

"Trish..."

She pretty much dragged him out of the practice room by his collar.

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

"So. I caught Roz filming me this morning. And they told me everything. I never go on the channel anymore so I never knew."

It felt like ages since Alonzo had last heard his voice; when he was telling him they were over. It was so surreal. Not so long ago, he heard this voice every single day without fail. Al sat on his bed, his back against the wall, his left arm resting on his knee as he looked down at his band, and the zombie talking – to him – on the screen.

"I don't even know if you're gonna watch this," Zephyr was saying, "I need to get this out, though, and I need to... like, at least feel like I'm talking to you. But I know you won't pick up if I call you so, I guess this is my only choice," he smiled sadly for a second then it fell, "I'm sorry. I never meant any of it, I was scared, and I was mad at myself for being selfish enough to want you to stay with me. OK? _I_ was the one being selfish," there were tears in his eyes now, "I don't care if you're not home with me all the time, I just want my garzi'ka. I just want to be able to say you're _mine_. And I want to say I'm _yours_. But... you know, if you still say no to that, then that's fine. I can't have everything I want. But I'm sorry. Just... please, just accept that apology... Gar-garziga, Alonzka."

He closed the video, leaned back and let his eyes fall shut. He took a long breath and slowly opened his eyes. What could he do? Ignore it? Accept the apology and leave it at that? Or take him back?

Could it really be that easy?

Yet again, he let himself dwell on it for hours until it was almost midnight and he was sick of it all. He made his choice.

"_Al?_" Zephyr's voice from the speaker sounded simultaneously scared and hopeful, "Are you- Did..." he paused before he got too tongue-tied, "Did you see the video?"

"... Yeah," now that he was talking to him, Alonzo wasn't sure what exactly he was feeling, "Zephyr, I'm gonna need more of an explanation here, that's not gonna cut it."

"I know. And you deserve an explanation, so... here it is."

Al was silent as Zephyr told him the truth; what he had really meant when he called Al selfish (or when Al _thought_ he was calling him selfish), the fear of them inevitably breaking up and deciding he couldn't take waiting around for it, and his anger at himself for ever saying such things to Alonzo.

"You could've taken it back right away, you didn't have to let me walk out like that."

"I should have. I don't think there's anything else to say. You're absolutely right, I should have. I regretted everything as soon as I said it but I felt so guilty. Like I wasn't good enough for you if I was going to say things like that to you."

Alonzo felt tears pricking his eyes and swallowed.

"You didn't even say goodbye."

"I was worried if I showed up, we'd fight or something. Then that'd be the last thing you did before you left. I knew Zach would go see you, he was the person you needed then."

"And why didn't you ever call me?"

He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"... Honestly, Al, would you have answered?"

"... No," he was sure of that.

And it seemed Zephyr was, too, "I didn't think so. I know you, you don't let people who hurt you back into your life. And I hurt you."

"I could-" Al cut himself off before he even suggested it. Then he thought. And continued anyway, "... I could make an exception."

It was like he could _feel_ how stunned Zephyr was.

"_Really_...?" he sounded almost breathless.

"_Could_," Al quickly reiterated, "Maybe. I'll accept your apology," he heard Zephyr sigh, "But if we're gonna figure this out from here and actually make it work, we need to talk in person."

He heard something from the other end that could have been Zephyr falling onto his bed, or the floor, or something.

"In person? Like, you want to see me?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"That'd mean you have to come back to Seabrook. They only give you a license to visit someone if they're family."

"I figured," he nodded to himself, "I'm gonna need a little time to think it over first."

"Sure. However long you need."

"... Maybe next weekend..."

"That soon?"

"_Too_ soon?"

"No!" Zephyr almost shouted, barely even waiting for Al to finish speaking, and Al couldn't stop himself from smirking. He bit down on his lip to try and stop it but it didn't do much.

"OK. So, next weekend," he confirmed, "I'll... I'll text you."

Now he could hear a smile in Zephyr's voice, "I'll be waiting," he also heard the unspoken 'I love you' in the silence, "... Bye..."

"Bye."

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

**Alonzo:** I got time to come home this weekend

**Zephyr:** perfect! we're playing a zombie mash saturday night

**Zephyr:** you can see what a mess we are without you

**Alonzo:** already kinda saw that in those vids...

**Zephyr:** right...

**Alonzo:** I'm kidding Zeph

**Alonzo:** whatever happens, you guys are still gonna crush it

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Zephyr was practically vibrating with a combination of excitement and nerves that Saturday. Rizzo, Roz, Zach and pretty much anyone else who would listen knew Alonzo would be at the mash, and that he was apparently considering giving Zephyr a second chance. BFZ would already be setting up by the time Al's bus arrived in Seabrook, so they wouldn't actually see each other until he actually got to the power plant.

The elevator door opened as they were ending their set with _Scope_ and Alonzo entered, unnoticed at first. Everyone was gathered on the dancefloor, blocking the view of the stage, but he could hear Zephyr singing. Al pushed through the crowd and all his old friends grinned as they saw him, moving aside to let him through.

Zach spotted him first and winked at him, then Roz smirked, glancing from him to Zephyr and back. Right as the last note rang out, Zephyr lifted his head and immediately locked eyes with him. Al bit his lip and gave him an awkward smile, and Zeph returned it, letting out a breath.

It was strange watching BFZ from the audience, but it gave Al an outside-looking-in view for the first time and he realised he missed being onstage with them. But more than anything, he missed singing to Zephyr's music. He couldn't help the urge to sing along.

"_Somehow I've gotten to a point and I'm not ever comin' back. Mind's made up, I'm staying for as long as it has taken to get close to you..._"

Zephyr's smile widened when he saw, his own voice rising.

"_I wanna get close to you and I need more time. I wanna get close to you, I just want close to you and I'm not sure why..._"

– SINCE WE BROKE UP –

Their set was over and Alonzo had approached the stage, anxiously eyeing Zephyr. With a quick glance at Zach and Roz from them both, Al tipped his head towards the hallway that led out to the secret exit. Not the light garden. Zephyr guessed he didn't want to risk the implications that being alone in the light garden together held. Once they were out of earshot of the rest of the party, Al turned to Zeph. He didn't know what to say at first, so he just said the first thing I came to mind.

"... I missed you."

"You did...?" he sounded so hopeful and Al had to keep himself from wincing. Just being in his presence made it hard to be mad.

"Yeah..." he nodded, "You know, I've been thinking about this but... I still don't know about this."

Zephyr, testing the waters, brushed his hand against Al's, his fingers lingering for a few seconds.

"We can figure it out."

Al sighed, "I know. It's just, every time I start to think we could make it work, I think..." he wasn't sure how to phrase this, "... You've always been the same. You don't talk enough. How do I know this isn't gonna happen again?"

"You'll have to trust me. But I swear I'll do better, I can't risk losing you again. I barely made it through one month...!" he paused, "... So, what do you say? Do I still have a chance with you?"

Seeing Zephyr so desperate for just a _chance_ of getting back together like this should have been so satisfying, but all Alonzo felt in the moment was... pity. And just a little bit of guilt. He wanted to say 'yes', but...

"I-I don't know..."

"You want me to beg?" he fixed his eyes on Al, his expression serious, "'Cause I'll do it."

"Zeph..." he muttered vaguely. He'd thought he wanted that, but now it just felt wrong.

"_Please_, Al...! I want you in my life. And I'm sorry I ever made you think I didn't."

Al could do nothing but shake his head. This wasn't what he wanted. He couldn't stand seeing him like this.

"Seriously, Zephyr, sto-"

Zephyr put a hand on his arm, not quite grabbing it so he could pull away if he wanted to, "What do I need to do? 'Cause I'd do anything for you."

Al wasn't going to pull away.

He needed solid proof, not only that Zephyr did truly care about him, but also that _he_ still cared about _Zephyr_.

His hands were suddenly reaching out, gently cupping Zephyr's face as he stared deep into his eyes. Three words – that's all it took.

"Just _kiss me_."

Zephyr's eyes widened for no more than a second before he pressed his lips to Al's and finally, _finally_, everything seemed right again. For both of them. Alonzo seemed to go through every emotion possible at once, but it ended on-

"I love you, Zeph..."


End file.
